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/ 

to rev. j. r. goodman. 
Dear Sir, 

The " Pennsylvania Series of Elementary School Books," is a 
work which is, at this time, much needed, and I am rejoiced to 
hear that its publication is commenced by gentlemen fully compe- 
tent to make it what it should be. 

The geography, the history, the institutions, the resources, and 
improvements of our commonwealth, and the biography of our dis- 
tinguished men, furnish interesting materials for a work of this 
kind, and information highly desirable for our youth, and necessary 
to give them a proper estimate of their native state. 
I am yours respectfully, 

FRANCIS R. SHUNK, 

Superintendent Common Schools. 
Harrishurg, Nov. 1, 1839. /. , , 



I CHEERFULLY concur in the above sentiments. ^; 

GEO. N. ESPY, ^ '^ 

Auditor G^.e-al. 
Harrisburg, Nov. 1, 1839. 



Treasury Office, Nov. 1, 1839. 
Dear Sir, 

The plan of a new series of primary books, for the use of com- 
mon schools, which has been submitted to me, is one with which I 
am well pleased. 

It has long been a desideratum with me, to have something more 
exclusively Pennsylvanian, put into the hands of our youths. This 
object appears to have been attained in the plan you propose, as far 
as I have been able to examine it. 

I hope you may suceeed in the undertaking. 
Yours, truly, 

DANIEL STURGEON, 

Treasurer of the Commonwealth, 
Rev. John R. Goodman. 



I DO heartily concur in the above. 

Respectfully yours, 

JACOB SALLADE, 

Surveyor General. 
(1) 



EXTRACT 

From His Excellency^ Governor Porter's Message^ 
January 8th, 1840. 

We are also in need of a proper system of school books, to be 
used in our schools, and which should be composed by competent 
persons, for the instruction of the youths of Pennsylvania. Such 
a course as would tend properly to impress our youth with a due 
regard for our own commonwealth, would endear her to their 
hearts. Her position, wealth, and intelligence ; the admirable and 
free system of her laws ; her unwavering patriotism and devotion 
to republican principles ; her distinguished philanthropy and bene- 
volence, entitle her, in a pre-eminent degree, to the love and ven- 
eration of her children, who should be early taught properly to 
estimate her great characteristics. 



BOARD OF CONTROLLERS 

OF 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS, FIRST SCHOOL DISTRICT, PA. 

(Extract from the Minutes.) 

At a meeting of the Board, held this day, the following 
resolution was adopted : 

Resolved, That the " Pennsylvania Biography j^'' edited 
by the Rev. J. R. Goodman, be introduced as a reading 
book, into the Public Schools. 

RICHARD PENN SMITH, 
Secretary. 

January 14, 1840. 

(2) 



Pennsylraiila Series of Glementary School Books. 



CLASS BOOK NO. 6. 



PENNSYLVANIA BIOGRAPHY 



MEMOIRS 



EMINENT PENNSYLVANIANS 



f^..§-0^).. 




WITH OCCASIONAL EXTRACTS, IN PROSE AND VERSE, 
FROM THEIR WRITINGS. 

Designed as a Reading Book for more advanced Classes* 



To which is prefixed, as a required Introduction, 

THE LIFE OF WILLIAM PENN, 

Proprietary and Governor. ^,,,>*'^3?X2i-^^'e^ 



PHILADELPHIA : 

J. CRISSY, No. 4, MINOR STREET. 

1840. 




ri^-s 



J^(cd6 



Entered, according to the act of Congress, in the year 1S39, by 
REV. J. R. GOODMAN, AXD JAMES CRISSY, 

in the clerk's office of the district court of the United States m afid for 

the eastern district of Pennsyl^-ania. 



STEREOTVPED BV J. FAGAN— PHILADELPHIA. 

PRINTED BY JAMES CRISSY. 
(4) 



THESE MEMOIRS 
OF EMINENT CITIZENS OF THE COMMONWEALTH, 

ARE INSCRIBED, BY THE EDITOR, 

TO THE YOUTH OF HIS NATIVE STATE, 

IN THE HUMBLE HOPE, 

THAT THEY MAY INCITE TO A 

REVERENCE FOR THEIR VIRTUES, 

AND AN 

IMITATION OF THEIR EXAMPLES. 

(5) 



PREFACE. 

If is a remark of Dr. Johnson, that *' no species of 
writing seems more worthy of cultivation than biogra- 
phy, since none can be more delightful or more useful. 
Nofte more certainly enchains the heart by irresistible 
interest, or more widely diffuses instruction to every 
diversity of condition." In subscribing to the correct- 
ness of this sentiment of the great moralist, the editor 
of this work has prepared the memoirs with a special 
i*eference to the benefits which might be expected to 
result to the young, from narratives of individuals who 
have deservedly won the admiration, and secured the 
reverence of their fellow men. The moral portraits 
which he has drawn, may, it is hoped, present such 
features as will call for their close attention ; whilst the 
account of their lives should beget a desire of imita- 
tion, in order to secure a like measure of merited 
renown. A feeling of state pride has also been 
attempted to be awakened; and among those jewels 
which he has here exhibited, there will be found many 
that the people of Pennsylvania will long treasure, as a 
portion of the legacy bequeathed to them by the great 
and good of their beloved commonwealth. 

J. R. G. 

Philadelphia, 1840. ^^^ 



CONTENTS. 

Letters recommendatory, ------------ 1 

Dedication, - ----- 5 

Preface, -..-----.-- 7 

Life of William Penn, ------------- 9 

David Rittenhouse, --------------23 

Thomas Godfrey, Sr. 36 

Francis Hopkinson, -...-------.--49 

Thomas Godfrey, Jr. ----- 71 

Benjamin Rush, .---..---------77 

Edward Drinker, 84 

Benjamin West, 87 

Robert Fulton, 96 

Right Rev. Bishop White, - - 104 

Rev. Nathaniel Evans, 112 

Rev. John Blair Linn, ------------. 120 

Charles Brockden Brown, 136 

William Rawle, 149 

William Moore Smith, 158 

Lindley Murray, 163 

Elias Boudinot, 169 

Major General Thomas Mifflin, -.-. 173 

Major General Anthony Wayne, 185 

Commodore Stephen Decatur, ----«-..-. 207 
Brigadier General John Cadwallader, -------. 224 

Major General John Gibson, 228 

Major General Andrew Porter, -.-. 232 

Captain Nicholas Biddle, 246 

Major General Jacob Brown, ----------- 252 

Thomas Mifflin, 259 

Thomas M'Kean, 260 

Simon Snyder, --------- 263 

Joseph Hiester, 267 

George Wolf, 274 

(8) 



PENNSYLVANIA BIOGRAPHY. 




The Pent! Family Arms. 



WILLIAM PENN. 



Born A. D. MDCXLIV— Died A. D. MDCCXVIII. 



If the personal virtues of the illustrious subject of this me- 
moir, and the Christian graces of his life, call for our admira- 
tion, the benevolent principles, upon which he founded a new 
Commonwealth, demand a tribute of commendation from every 
friend of humanity. Few men, who, by their public acts, have 
gained an enviable, and ever-during fame, and whose names 
are imperishably written on the page of history, have merited, 
more justly, the honour of the world ; as few, who have sup- 
plied, in their characters, instances of moral purity, have more 
deservedly received the offerings of that world's reverence. 
Biography is as if hallowed, when it can record, in all the 
integrity of truth, instances of such devotion to the promptings 
of a sacred " spirit within ;" of such unbending fortitude in 
afflictive trials; of an ever-expanding benevolence to the 
stranger ; of mercy to the suflerer ; and of exact justice to all. 

(9) 



10 BIOGRAPHY OF 

To tell of such a man, is to supply the best illustration of how 
powerful is the influence, and how salutary the control of prin- 
ciples, which have their foundation in religion ; and the ten- 
dency of which is, the lasting, solid benefit of untold genera- 
tions. 

Through the operation of these principles upon the benevo- 
lent nnind of Penn, Pennsylvania can justly claim, as the 
foundation of her settlement, and subsequent prosperity, the 
eternal maxims of our Holy Faith. Her origin was in these, 
and essentially so. Guided by the lovely spirit of our Chris- 
tianity, and urged on by a desire of extending her mild, yet 
tranforming precepts to the savage, he panted for the posses- 
sion of a theatre, though it should be a wilderness, and its 
inhabitants barbarians, upon which he might exhibit the splen- 
did results that would flow from a government, based upon 
Gospel truth, administered by Gospel authority, and marked 
by Gospel simplicity. And the God of providence brought 
him to the far-off land of the untutored Indian, and gave him 
the lofty forest as a home for him and his people, and an asy- 
lum for the wronged of the old world. Here, amid circum- 
stances sufficient to alarm one less enthusiastic in his sacred 
object, he planted a colony, such as never before had made 
the materials for a commonwealth ; and here, with the native 
savage, he formed a league of justice and friendship, which 
was never broken; — for the smoke which ascended from the 
calumet of peace, was an incense that rose not in vain, above 
the wilderness temple ! 

It was a treaty, the first that was not ratified by an oath ! 
And it needed not thus to be confirmed. Had not Penn pro- 
claimed to the world, his sacred design in establishing a new 
state? Had not the fundamental maxims for its direction been 
widely spread ? The court of his sovereign, and the highway, 
alike, had heard his object ; and the registry of his purpose, 
and principles, he was aware, was in the minds of all. And 
why an oath to ratify this holy league ? He had been invest- 



WILLIAM PENN. 11 

ed, as kings before had invested their subjects, with the unin- 
habited territory of the crown ; and the title was ample and 
vahd, as kings and the learned servants of kings had told. 
But the spirit of a religion, so pure and divine as that of the 
gospel, he believed, gave not the land of the native heathen to 
be thus conveyed. And with that spirit operating in his breast 
— a spirit which gave to him the witness and the assurance 
that it was from above, — with the purest and most sanctified 
purpose, to treat the barbarian as a brother from a common 
parent, an oath would have been a solemn mockery. Under 
the direction of the gospel, he had formed his design, and in 
gospel sincerity he had resolved never to violate the merciful 
provision, which respected the Red man's claims over the Red 
man's land ; and which enforced upon the Christian colonist 
the sacred obligation, to extend to the poor heathen the sweet 
charities which bind the communion of the more enlightened. 

Another trait in the character of the venerable Penn, is, 
that of religious toleration, which is a primary principle of the 
government he founded, and which he carried out to its full 
extent. The cultivation and practice of this virtue, on his 
part, are the more remarkable, when, as we shall find, he 
himself was often and severely persecuted, on account of his 
religious opinions — at that time, peculiar and novel. We 
say, that the circumstance is the more remarkable, because 
history has supplied the lamentable truth, that the victim of 
religious bigotry and intolerance has too often become, in the 
day of his pride and strength, the unmerciful persecutor, or the 
minister of a vengeance against which himself had protested. 

Of the private virtues and qualities of heart, as exhibited in 
his life, it may be sufficient to say that they were possessed 
by him to a degree which seldom is attained by beings con- 
stituted as we are. If the military pursuits of his father be 
considered, his first and earliest impressions must have been 
those of violence — yet he was an example of meekness. If 
the persecutions which constantly followed him on account of 



12 BIOGRAPHY OF 

his religious faith and practices be remembered, the wonder, 
must be expressed, that still this Christian meekness ever dis- 
played itself. He had much of moral courage: for the 
*' truth's sake," he feared not the frown of his king, and ex- 
posed himself to the displeasure of an earthly parent. Nor 
had he less of fortitude when called to suffer. He submitted 
to the laws which imposed fines and heavy penalties, with a 
martyr's spirit ; but from the bars of his prison, he made 
himself heard in the cause of a religion which had his soul's 
best and purest love. Of his large and diffusive benevolence 
in promoting justice and mercy among men, instances have 
been stated ; of the application of it to individuals, many cases 
are on record, which show that it was ever active, even when 
endangering his beloved province. He was indeed both a 
great and a good man ! He can be called great ; for he pos- 
sessed that true nobility of mind and temper which constitutes 
this elevated quality among men. He was a good man ; for 
so far as human judgment can reach, in its righteous estimate 
of the human heart, he sought the knowledge of his duty, that 
he might follow it ; and served his God in truth and love here 
below, that he might be qualified, through divine grace, for 
admission into an immortal world above. 

The father of William Penn was Sir William Penn, who, 
early showing an inclination to the navy, was promoted, at 
the early age of twenty-one, to the rank of a captain, and ten 
years after, held the appointment of vice-admiral of England. 
He was born in Bristol, England, and married Margaret Jas- 
per, the daughter of a merchant in Rotterdam, Holland. 
During the protectorate of Cromwell, and after the restoration 
of Charles II., he was continued in the service of both govern- 
ments ; pursuing his course of duty without regard to the par- 
ties that distracted his country. To that country he renderefj' 
important services : in reward for which he was knighted by 
Charles II. ; and the character which he established was one 
of honour and fidelity, in all his public offices. He was pos- 



WILLIAM PENN. 13 

sessed of extensive estates in England and Ireland, which on 
his death, in 1670, were bequeathed, with his paternal bless- 
ing, to his son William. 

This son and heir of the admiral, and first proprietor and 
governor of Pennsylvania, was born in London, on the 14th 
of October, A. D. 1644. O^ his childhood and youth, the 
flattering indications were such as to cause his father to afford 
him the opportunity for acquiring a liberal education ; and he 
was entered accordingly, about the fifteenth year of his age, 
a student in Christ Church College, in Oxford University. 

At this period of his life he became seriously impressed 
with the truths of religion, through the ministry of Thomas 
Loe, a preacher of the Society of Friends, or Quakers. Con- 
ceiving it to be his duty to nourish the sacred feelings which 
he experienced, and to cultivate them through religious exer- 
cises, he united to himself a number of fellow-students at the 
university, and held private meetings for worship. A pro- 
ceeding, such as this, it might be expected, would be regarded 
by the college authorities, as at variance with established 
regulations ; and accordingly, a remonstrance was directed to 
this communion of youthful Christians. Failing in its pur- 
pose, however, William was fined for non-conformity to the 
National or Established Church ; and finally, on account of 
his i 3rseverance in a course, regarded by him as one he was 
imperiously bound to follow, he was expelled from the walls 
of the university, at the age of sixteen. 

Returning home, he still adhered to his religious habits and 
peculiar mode of thinking. His expulsion from Oxford, and 
the odium attached to the Society of Friends, of which his son 
was the professed admirer, influenced the father to oppose a 
conduct which he supposed would materially injure his ad- 
vancement in the world. After much ineffectual persuasion 
and earnest rebuke, William was turned away from his pa- 
rents' mansion, and already, a second time, found himself 
suffering for conscience sake. This expulsion, however, did 
2 



14 BIOGRAPHY OF 

not continue for any length of time ; for, through the persua- 
sive entreaties of his mother, he was again received by his 
father ; and from a belief that a tour to the continent might 
wean his son from his offensive tenets and customs, he deter- 
mined to send him to France, in company with several dis- 
tinguished individuals. 

This expedient, to some extent, met the expectations of his 
parent ; for we find, according to his diary, that about the 
year 1664, he endured a severe conflict with his religious 
duty, and the fascinations of a world that flattered him with 
admiration for his accomplishments. He was enabled to re- 
sist, however, the opposition to his religious progress ; and he 
continued to cherish his sacred impressions. Having been 
admitted, on his return from France, to Lincoln's Inn, with a 
view of studying law, he continued there until his twenty- 
second year, and conducted himself with such acceptableness 
to his father, that he was sent by him to take charge of an 
estate in Ireland. 

Here he attached himself to the Society of Friends, in full 
fellowship, and along with his brethren, was imprisoned at 
Cork ; but through the exertions of the earl of Orrery was soon 
liberated. His father remanded him home, and endeavoured, 
by every means which parental love and concern could effect, 
to separate him from his attachments ; but it was of no avail, 
for the son adhered to them from principles, which he regarded 
as stamped with a divine character. The conflict must have 
been painfully agonizing to both ; and concluded with a pro- 
posal from the admiral, that his son should be uncovered in 
the presence of the king, the duke of York, and himself As 
wholly inconsistent with the principles of the Quakers, Wil- 
liam declined ; and the result was, a second dismission. 

How long this expulsion continued, we are not informed ; 
but the most convincing evidences of the sincerity of his son's 
views and conduct, having been supplied in the consistency 
of his life, the father made no future opposition to his residence 



WILLIAM PENN. 15 

at home. About this time, he became a public preacher among 
the Friends, and fearlessly held forth the doctrines which him- 
self had adopted, and which already had caused him much 
trouble. He also wrote several religious treatises ; one of 
which, the Sandy Foundation Shaken, occasioned so much 
offence to the church and government, that he was committed 
to the Tower of London. Here he continued for seven months, 
and, though suffering many privations, he yet prepared his 
most popular work. No Cross No Crown ; a production, 
which, like all those that came from his pen, is marked with 
evidences of a vigorous, logical mind ; of extensive reading, 
particularly in the Scriptures ; and of useful, careful study. 

In the year 1670, meetings of persons dissenting from the 
National Church, were forbidden by law, under heavy penal- 
ties ; which, however, did not deter Penn and his religious 
friends from preaching in the streets, in the vicinity of their 
meeting-houses. On one of these occasions, the subject of 
this memoir was arrested, and committed to the Newgate 
prison. In the trial which succeeded, he plead his own cause, 
and was acquitted by the jury : although, by the exercise of 
an arbitrary authority, the recorder ordered Penn and the jury 
to be sent to the gaol for contumacy. It was about this time 
that his father died, entirely reconciled to his son, and be- 
queathing to him the whole of his estates, with the affecting 
and impressive admonition : " Son William, let nothing in this 
world tempt you to wrong your conscience ; so will you keep 
peace at home, which will be a peace to you in a day of 
trouble." 

The measures of the government being sorely oppressive to 
the Quakers, Penn made two visits to Holland ; in one of 
which he was accompanied by the celebrated George Fox, 
and Robert Barclay, original leaders of the Society. Pre- 
viously to the first of these voyages, he had again been com- 
mitted to the Tower ; to the Lieutenant of which, on his exam- 
ination, he made the following bold appeal to his conduct. 



16 BIOGRAPHY OF 

" I make this bold challenge to all men, women, and chil- 
dren, upon earth, justly to accuse me with ever having seen 
me drunk ; heard me swear ; utter a curse, or speak one ob- 
scene word, — much less that I ever made it my practice. I 
speak this to God's glory, who has preserved me from the 
power of these pollutions, and that, from a child, begat in me 
an hatred towards them. But there is nothing more common, 
than when men are of a more severe life than ordinary, for 
loose persons to comfort themselves with the conceit, that they 
were once as they are, as if there were no collateral or oblique 
line of the compass, or globe, men -may be said to come from, 
to the Arctic pole ; but directly and immediately from the Ant- 
arctic. Thy words shall be thy burden ,* and I trample thy 
slander as dirt under my feet." 

In 1672, he was married to Gulielma Maria Springett, 
daughter of Sir William Springett, and fixed his residence at 
Rickmersworth, in Hertfordshire; occasionally visiting the 
meetings of his religious friends ; fearlessly advocating their 
principles, defending their conduct, and aiding them in their 
persecutions. Indeed, he appears to have been most deeply 
intersted in their affairs ; for not only was he constantly tra- 
velling and preaching to the different societies of Friends in 
England and Ireland ; but occasional voyages were made to 
those in Germany and Holland. Much of his attention and 
influence was employed, likewise, in attempting to procure 
from Parliament a repeal of the laws, which operated so op- 
pressively against him and his religious associates ; but with 
no success. 

The repeated persecutions which he and his brethren were 
called to suffer, determined him to attempt a settlement in 
America, upon a plan, not more original than it was benevo- 
lent in conception. He had previously become possessed of a 
portion of the province of West Jersey, as one of the creditors 
of a Friend, named Billings, who had purchased his right from 
Lord Berkley, the original proprietor, in 1675. But his ex- 



WILLIAM PENN. 17 

periment he wished to be on a larger scale, and unconnected 
with others. He desired that he might be able to afford an 
asylum for religious opinion, and an example of a just and 
righteous government. As the heir of his father. Admiral 
Penn, he had a large claim upon the crown ; as an equivalent 
for which, he desired that the territory, now called by his 
name, might be ceded to him. Charles II., accordingly, on 
the 4th of March, 1681, by royal charter, granted his petition ; 
investing him with all the rights of Proprietor and Governor. 
Measures were immediately pursued for colonizing the new 
country ; as an inducement for which, he promised a full and 
entire toleration in " religious persuasion or practice." In 
respect to the Aborigines, or Indians, his course was pro- 
claimed to be that of rigid justice and extensive mercy. He 
regarded them as the sole proprietors of the soil, notwithstand- 
ing the grant of the crown, and became the occupier of their 
lands only by purchase, and with their consent, as expressed 
in the treaties he held with them. 

The publication of such terms, and the known integrity of 
the Proprietor, induced an immediate emigration of respectable 
persons to the new province. Three vessels, filled with colo- 
nists, sailed in a few months from England ; and the next year 
not less than fifty ships, some of them from Holland and Ger- 
many, arrived with settlers. The city of Philadelphia was 
laid out on the banks of the Delaware ; and when William 
Penn landed on the shores of a country for which his earnest 
prayers had been offered, on the 24th of October, 1682, his 
heart was gladdened by the prosperity of his beloved colony. 
Treaties were soon made and ratified with the Indians ; the 
operation of his benevolent principles of government sedulously 
watched ; and the happiness of all, within the range of his 
influence, anxiously promoted. 

After continuing two years in his province, he returned to 
England ; and through his earnest petitions, succeeded in pro- 
curing a repeal of the penal laws against his religious society. 
2* 



18 BIOGRAPHY OF 

The civil troubles of this period had nigh involved him in iheit 
consequences ; and to avoid personal difficulty, and not en- 
danger the success of his experiment in America, he withdrew 
into retirement. Subsequently to this season, he was afflicted 
with the loss of his wife ; to the pain of which bereavement, 
he said, all his other troubles were of no consequence — but 
which he attempted to soothe in the preparation of religious 
works. His return to court enabled him to procure a special 
immunity from the taking of oaths ; an appeal by which, is 
forbidden, by the tenets of the Quakers. 

In 1689 he again sailed for Pennsylvania, taking with him 
his second wife, Hannah, the daughter of Thomas Callowhill, 
an eminent merchant of Bristol ; with the design of making 
his province the future permanent residence of his family. 
But being advised of attempts to harass his government at the 
court of England, he returned in 1701. Having succeeded 
in removing the prejudices of his sovereign, he finally fixed 
his dwelling at Rushcomb, in Buckinghamshire, and continued 
to reside there for the remainder of his days. Three succes- 
sive and violent attacks of apoplexy, in the year 1712, mate- 
rially impaired his memory and understanding ; but, although 
disqualified by this afflictive dispensation for public employ- 
ments, he continued to pronounce, in the meeting-house in 
Reading, short but appropriate and sensible instruction. He 
continued in this mournful condition until the 5th of July, 
1718, when he died, aged about seventy-four years : — having 
during the whole season of his melancholy visitation, mani- 
fested that he possessed that calm, divine, and mental felicity, 
which was to be expected from his religious profession and 
purity of Hfe ! 

His works were originally published in two large folio vo- 
lumes, and are chiefly upon subjects of religion and Christian 
morals, and matters of civil government. They evidence his 
sincerity as a Christian and philanthropist. Of the propriety 
of his views as a statesman, let the province which he founded, 



WILLIAM PENN. 19 

and the prosperity of our own Pennsylvania, be the evidence, 
as it is the proud monument. 



Who was William Penn ? 

What were the principles upon which he established his government ? 

How did he treat the Indians ? 

Who was his father, and of what profession ? 

When and where was Penn born ? 

At what university was he entered a student ? 

What occurred at the university ? 

What was the conduct of his father? 

For what profession in life did he afterwards prepare himself? 

When did he become a member of the Society of Friends ? 

Did he sufier on account of his religion by imprisonment, &c. 

When committed to the Tower, what was his challenge ? 

Did he afterwards become reconciled to his father ? 

What was his father's dying advice ? 

Why did he desire to have a province in America ? 

What king granted him Pennsylvania, and from what consideration ? 

When did Penn arrive in his province ? 

What did he do with the Indians ? 

Did his colony flourish? 

How many visits did he make to his province ? 

At what place was his residence in England ? 

When was he visited with a severe sickness ? 

What was the date of his death? 



Letter of William Penn to the Indians of the Province, forwarded 
through his Commissioners. 

^'^ London, the 18th of the Eighth month, 1681. 
" My Friends, 

" There is a great God and power, that hath made the 
world, and all things therein ; to whom you and I, and all 
people owe their being, and well-being; and to whom you 
and I must one day give an account for all that we do in the 
world. 

" This great God hath written his law in our hearts, by 
which we are taught and commanded to love and help, and 
do good to one another. Now this great God hath been 
pleased to make me concerned in your part of the world ; and 
the king of the country where I live hath given me a great 



20 BIOGRAPHY OF 

province therein ; but I desire to enjoy it with your love and 
consent, that we may always live together as neighbours and 
friends ; else what would the great God do to us, who hath 
made us, not to devour and destroy one another, but to live 
soberly and kindly together in the world? Now I would 
have you well observe, that I am very sensible of the unkind- 
ness and injustice that have been too much exercised towards 
you by the people of these parts of the world ; who have 
fought themselves, and to make great advantages by you, 
rather than to be examples of goodness and patience unto 
you ; which I hear hath been a matter of trouble to you, and 
caused great grudging and animosities, sometimes to the shed- 
ding of blood, which hath made the great God angry. But I 
am not such a man, as is well known in my own country. 
I have great love and regard towards you, and desire to win 
and gain your love and friendship, by a kind, just and peace- 
able life ; and the people I send are of the same mind, and 
shall, in all things, behave themselves accordingly ; and if in 
anything, any shall offend you, or your people, you shall 
have a full and speedy satisfaction for the same, by an equal 
number of just men on both sides, that by no means you may 
have just occasion of being offended against them. 

" I shall shortly come to you myself, at which time we may 
more largely and freely confer and discourse of these matters ; 
in the mean time I have sent my commissioners to treat with 
you about land, and a firm league of peace ; let me desire you 
to be kind to them, and the people, and receive these presents 
and tokens which I have sent you, as a testimony of my good 
will to you, and my resolution to live justly, peaceably and 
friendly with you. 

"I am your loving friend, 
* "William Penn." 



WILLIAM PENN. 21 

Letter of William Penn, written on his leaving the Province, after his 
first visit, dated on ship-board, in the Delaware River. 

•' For Tho. Lloyd, J. Claypole, J. Simcock, Ch. Taijlor, and J. Harri- 
son, to be communicated in meetings in Pennsylvania, S^c. among 
Friends ; 

" Dear Friends, 

" My love and my life is to you, and with you ; and no 
water can quench it, nor distance wear it out, or bring it to 
an end : — I have been with you, cared over you, and served 
you with unfeigned love : and you are beloved of me, and 
near to me, beyond utterance. I bless you in the name and 
power of the Lord ; and may God bless you with his right- 
eousness, peace and plenty, all the land over. Oh, that you 
would eye him, in all, through all, and above all the works 
of your hands ; and let it be your first care, how you may 
glorify God in your undertakings ; for to a blessed end are 
you brought hither ; and if you see and keep but in the sense 
of that Providence, your coming, staying, and improving will 
be sanctified ; hut if any forget God, and call not upon his 
name, in truth, he will pour out his plagues upon them ; and 
they shall know who it is, that judgeth the children of men. 

" Oh, now you are come to a quiet land, provoke not the 
Lord to trouble it ; and now liberty and authority are with 
you, and in your hands, let the government be upon his shoul- 
ders, in all your spirits ; that you may rule for him, under 
whom the princes of this world will, one day, esteem it their 
honour to govern and serve, in their places. I cannot but 
say, when these things come mightily upon my mind, as the 
apostles did, of old, ' What manner of persons ought we to 
he, in all godly conversation /' Truly, the name and honour 
of the Lord are deeply concerned in you, as to the discharge 
of yourselves, in your present stations ; many eyes being 
upon you ; and remember, that as we have been belied about 
disowning the true religion, so, of all government, to behold 
us exemplary and Christian, in the use of that, will not only 



22 BIOGRAPHY OF 

stop our enemies, but minister conviction to many, on that 
account, prejudiced. Oh, that you may see and know that 
service, and do it, for the Lord, in this your day : — 

" And thou, Philadelphia^ the virgin settlement of this 
province, named before thou wert born, what love, what care, 
what service, and what travail has there been, to bring thee 
forth, and preserve thee from such as would abuse and defile 
thee! 

" Oh, that thou mayest be kept from the evil that would 
overwhelm thee; that, faithful to the God of thy mercies, in 
the life of righteousness, thou mayest be preserved to the 
end : — My soul prays to God for thee, that thou mayest stand 
in the day of trial, that thy children may be blessed of the 
Lord, and thy people saved by his power ; my love to thee 
has been great, and the remembrance of thee affects mine 
heart and mine eye! — the God of eternal strength keep and 
preserve thee, to his glory and thy peace. 

" So, dear friends, my love again salutes you all, wishing 

that grace, mercy, and peace, with all temporal blessings, may 

abound richly among you; — so says, so prays, your friend 

and lover in the truth, 

"William Penn. 

" From on board the ketch Endeavour, ) 
the Sixth Month, 1684." \ 



PENNSYLVANIA BIOGRAPHY. 



PART I. 



SCIENCE, LITERATURE, ARTS, ETC. 



DAVID RITTENHOUSE. 

Born MDCCXXXII — Died MDCCXCVI. 

Few men have more remarkably exhibited the elastic power 
of genius, in overcoming obstacles of the greatest magnitude, 
and in conquering the untoward circumstances which beset 
their progress towards the objects of their pursuit, than the 
eminent subject of this article. The high elevation in science 
which he reached, was not more astonishing, than the inade- 
quate means which he enjoyed for the attainment of that 
knowledge, the possession of which secured for him the homage 
of the learned in Europe, and ministered to the glory and 
benefit of his country. 

Indeed, the history of the early literature and science of 
America, is a subject which cannot fail in arresting the atten- 
tion of every inquirer. Within the first half century of its 
settlement, almost every province had produced some mighty 
mind of giant mould ; towering in all the majesty of strength, 
and calling up the admiration and reverence of the philoso- 
phers of the old world. They beheld the master spirits of an 
age, which was emphatically one of intellect, presiding in the 

(23) 



24 BIOGRAPHY OF 

rude academic grove, which was even yet the forest home of 
the savage ; and from the wilderness of the barbarian they 
heard the results of a wisdom, which was not surpassed by 
her favoured votaries in the venerable halls of enlightened 
Europe ! It is impossible, when reminded of this truth, to 
withhold our homage for men who have not only benefited 
mankind by their discoveries and inventions, but who have 
aided in raising one of the most splendid monuments of honour 
and praise to their native land. They were, indeed, the chil- 
dren of those who had left the regions of long accumulated 
wisdom ; and where all that ministers to the dignity and ele- 
vation of the human mind, was industriously cultivated. But 
their sires were not among the learned and the great of the 
world ! They were among those who, humble in possessions 
of any kind, sought either an asylum from the wrongs of their 
rulers, or a home where competency might reign. And they 
brought with them but little of this world's goods ; and least 
of all, the volumes of worldly wisdom. The bible, with the 
greater part, was the only book which they bore with them 
over the ocean wave ; and the holy and inspired truths of 
which they only sought to know. 

From such an origin there sprang these great and mighty 
men ,* and they went forth on the course of their glory, con- 
quering and to conquer. Their eyes had never been cheered 
with the sight of lofty domes, which crowned the temples of 
science ; nor had they access to the rich storehouses of wis- 
dom, which seers had bequeathed to immortality. Their path- 
way was straight and narrow ; beset with obstacles, at which 
temerity itself might falter. But they went on, urged by an 
impulse to which their aspirations and genius gave force; and 
they conquered, where thousands have yielded ; and the tro- 
phies which they won, are imperishable, for they are the con- 
quests of the human mind, itself undying. 

Among the names of those who achieved so much, with 
means so partial, David Rittenhouse holds a distinguished 



DAVID RITTENHOUSE. 25 

rank ! " As a philosopher and a man of science,'* is the de- 
claration of a foreign writer, "America has not produced any 
one superior :" and it is not in a spirit of national vanity, that 
it is inquired, whether Europe has on her long scroll of the 
great and wise, many who excelled him ? He soared where 
the most venturous had gone, but with no guide; and he 
gained a measure of glory such as few have gained, but with 
little aid ! Let the times and the circumstances in which he 
was placed, — the want of that inspiriting and almost inspiring 
impulse, which is given from without, by those who, estima- 
ting the worth and dignity of pursuits such as his, cheer on 
to the work ; — and then let the stupendous height in science 
which he reached be scanned, and it must be conceded, that 
the Astronomer of Pennsylvania is deservedly honoured in 
the minds of her sons. 

And in their hearts, too, ought he to be reverenced, deeply 
reverenced ; for Rittenhouse was a good man I If, before the 
world, he was one of lofly genius, in private life he was en- 
deared by the virtues which lend its sweetest, holiest charms. 
With almost infantile simplicity, and a meekness which is the 
marked characteristic of the Christian, he can well be com- 
pared to the immortal Newton ; and the inquiry may here be 
made. Does not the cultivation of the science of astronomy, in 
a special degree, produce those graces which adorn the most, 
since they are the rarest jewels which man exhibits? In him, 
they were throughout his valuable life, for ever shown ; and 
added to his great integrity, his affectionate temper, and affa- 
bility to all, made him the beloved friend, as he was the 
honoured philosopher. 

David Rittenhouse was the son of a respectable farmer, 
and was born on the 8th of April, A. D. 1732, on the pater- 
nal estate, near Germantown, in the county of Philadelphia. 
His ancestors were originally from the Duchy of Guelders : 
and established the first paper manufactory in America, in 
3 



26 BIOGRAPHY OF 

the year 1690; a period nearly identical with the introduc- 
tion of the art in England. In early childhood, his peculiar 
genius displayed itself; and although the instruction which 
could be afforded in a remote district of a newly-settled coun- 
try, must have been necessarily imperfect, yet the defects of 
his education were surmounted through the strong impulse 
and energy of his mind. A maternal uncle, indeed, who ap- 
pears to have devoted much attention to mathematics, though 
of the humble occupation of a joiner, assisted him in his pro- 
gress towards knowledge : and on his decease, David inherited, 
what to him seemed a treasure of wealth, the elementary 
wc^-ks possessed by his relative, together with the tools of his 
trade. 

Of his capacity to use the latter, and as indicative of his 
propensity to the mechanic arts, it is told of him, that in the 
eighth year of his age, he made a miniature water-wheel, with 
some of its adjunct machinery, and soon after, produced a 
wooden clock, complete in its several parts. In occupations 
such as these, he sought a relaxation from his severer studies, 
which were followed, however, with unremitting attention. 
Every occasion was seized by him for pursuing his researches, 
and his fondness for figures was ever exhibiting itself. His 
occupations in the fields did not interfere with this thirst for 
knowledse : for it was often observed that the fences would 
be covered with diagrams and calculations ; and that the 
plough, which he had been using, would frequently show the 
results of his investigation. Before his nineteenth year he 
had mastered Newton's Principia, which he found among the 
books of his relative, and to the full understanding of which . 
so great a knowledge of algebra and mathematics is necessary. 
Another, and a greater triumph was achieved by him about 
this time, in fixing the principles of the method of fluxions ; 
which he did by his own unaided researches, and for the dis- 
covery of which he long regarded himself as the author, until 



DAVID RITTENHOUSE. 27 

an event occurred which had some measure of influence upon 
his future career of professional honour. 

This was the arrival of the Rev. Thomas Barton, in Norri- 
ton, where the family of Rittenhouse then resided. He was a 
Presbyter of the Church of England ; and had come to America 
in search of preferment. He had but recently graduated at 
Trinity College, Dublin ; and that he deservedly received the 
honours of the above institution, the talents which he exhibited 
in the several distinguished stations to which he was called in 
this country, bear witness. Having taken charge of an Acad- 
emy in the vicinity of Rittenhouse's residence, an intimacy 
soon took place, which was eventually cemented by a union 
in marriage, between Barton and the sister of our youthful 
philosopher. The latter, now occasionally aided by the in- 
struction of his brother-in-law, devoted his attention to the 
Latin tongue, and was soon able to read his favourite Newton 
in that language. The library of Barton also furnished him 
with facilities in his favourite pursuits, which were unremit- 
tingly prosecuted. 

Having reached a period of life when the choice of a pro- 
fession became necessary, he determined upon that of a watch 
and mathematical instrument maker. To this pursuit he now 
devoted a sedulous attention ; spending his idle hours, as he 
called those of relaxation and repose, in his scientific studies. 
For the space of eight years he followed this course ; and so 
eager was he to acquire knowledge, that he had seriously im- 
paired a constitution, at no time very vigorous. Hs soon be- 
came known to the learned of that day ; and was deservedly 
regarded by them as an ornament to their circle, as he was 
honoured with several important appointments by his country. 
A short time previous, having been presented by his father 
with the paternal mansion, he married in the year 1764, Miss 
Colston, the daughter of a respectable farmer, with whom ho 
lived in the most devoted and affectionate attachment. 

The valuable knowledge and practical skill of our subject, 



28 BIOGRAPHY OF 

were now called into requisition by his government, and he 
was appointed a commissioner to define the boundary lines 
between his native State, Delaware, and Maryland, and be- 
tween Pennsylvania and New York. At this time also, he 
first conceived the plan of a new Orrery, which, at intervals, 
he prosecuted, until he at length perfected one of the greatest 
monuments of science and practical usefulness. Instruments 
for exhibiting the relative situations and motions of the celes- 
tial bodies had, for a long time, been previously used ; but 
beyond this they had not been extended. Rittenhouse, how- 
ever, purposed regulating the planets to each other with such 
nice accuracy, that his instrument might be employed in place 
of tables for predicting the positions and phenomena of any 
required period. All of his knowledge in astronomy was 
employed in its construction, and his matchless practical skill 
produced at length a work which alone was sufficient to estab- 
lish an enviable fame. This orrery is now in the University 
of Pennsylvania ; and another similar to it, is at Princeton 
College, among the philosophical apparatus of these institu- 
tions. So great was the interest among the learned, on the 
exhibition of this instrument, that the legislature of Pennsyl- 
vania honoured the inventor by appointing a special committee 
to visit it, and bestowing £400 upon the maker, as an ac- 
knowledgment for the glory which he had conferred upon his 
native state. 

The year 1769 is memorable in the annals of astronomy, 
on account of the transit of the planet Venus, over the Sun's 
disk : and it presented an opportunity for the display of the 
extensive acquisitions of this subject of our memoirs. An in- 
tense anxiety prevailed throughout Europe, as to the event 
about to occur ; and its results, so advantageous to the cause 
of science, were impatiently expected. Through the repre- 
sentations of Rittenhouse, the American Philosophical So- 
ciety, in Philadelphia, entered with the most lively zeal into 
the measures he proposed ; and appointed himself, Dr. Wm. 



DAVID RITTENIIOUSE. 29 

Smith, Provost of the Academy of Philadelphia, now the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Lukens, surveyor-general 
of the State, the committee of observation, at Norriton. With 
the greatest difficulty the necessary instruments were procured, 
and the requisite preparations made by the Doctor. The 
expected day arrived, and commenced with all the joyful indi- 
cations, that its loveliness was auspicious, as to the results of 
the observations about to be made. But the preparatory 
labours of our astronomer, the many and arduous duties which 
devolved upon him as the principal director of the arrange- 
ments, necessary to the object of their inquiries, had worn 
dov/n a frame, already enfeebled by long and arduous study. 
The excitement of the occasion, however, sustained him until 
the moment of the contact of the planet; when his delight was 
so great that he fainted, and was received in the arms of his 
associates ! No higher commendation can be expressed of 
the great capacity of the Pennsylvania astronomer, than to 
repeat the admitted truth, that the report of this memorable 
event by the learned committee at Norriton, is regarded as 
the most full and complete by the astronomers of the world. 
About this time, he was honoured with a fellowship in the 
Royal Society, in England. 

Rittenhouse continued in the most enthusiastic investigations 
of his favourite science, and with unabated vigour. His per- 
sonal merits, and the great integrity of his character, drew 
upon him the notice of the government ; and demanded his 
services in those departments where moral virtue and intellec- 
tual capacity could, alone, present a claim for their occupancy. 
In the year 1775, when the most animated discussions as to 
the obnoxious measures of the mother country were carried 
on, his political integrity recommended him to a seat in the 
legislature of Pennsylvania : and when resistance to English 
aggression became general, he was elected one of the committee 
of public safety. He was likewise appointed Treasurer of the 
State ; and perhaps it ought to be a matter of special record, 
3* 



30 BIOGRAPHY OF 

that during a season of the greatest political confusion, and in 
too many instances of lawless violence, he discharged his du- 
ties, with not more ability and firmness, than with the most 
unbending integrity. 

His declining health, and his unwearied attachment to sci- 
entific pursuits, influenced his resignation of the important 
trusts which had been conferred upon him by his State. But 
the claims of his country could not be unheeded ; as the ca- 
pacity which he so eminently possessed, could not be disre- 
garded at that important period of our history. After having 
been elected a commissioner of the United States Bank, he 
was honoured with the appointment of Director of the Mint, 
by General Washington. Upon him there was devolved the 
arduous duty to put in operation a department, which is cor- 
rectly termed an " attribute of sovereignty." That his direc- 
tory was eflicient, and that his practical skill was of the 
greatest advantage to the establishment, need not be stated. 
In this department he continued until within a short time of his 
death. 

This melancholy event took place on the 26th of June, 
1796, and was preceded by much of pain and suffering, which 
he bore, however, with a resignation and patience only equal- 
led by the immortal Newton. Having been told that a friend 
had inquired after his health, he asked. Why he had not been 
admitted into his chamber? The attendant replied, that he 
was too weak to converse with any one ; but observed the 
astronomer, " I might have pressed his hand." 

The papers and essays of this amiable and illustrious man, 
are to be found in considerable numbers among the Transac- 
tions of the American Philosophical Society, an institution of 
which he was a distinguished ornament, and towards which 
he always cherished the liveliest interest. On his death, this 
society decreed a public eulogium, which was pronounced by 
Dr. Rush ; and the highest honours were conferred upon his 
memory by the diflferent literary associations of the country. 



DAVID RITTENHOUSE. 81 

Who was David Rittenhouse ? 
When, and where was he born ? 

What is said about his childhood, his ingenuity, great application, &c. f 
What profession did he adopt ? 

What very ingenious astronomical instrument did he make ? 
For what is the year 1769 memorable ? • 
On that occasion how was he engaged ? 
What offices did he hold in his native state ? 
What situations-imder the United States government ? 
When did he die ? 

During his sickness what did he remark about one who had called to see 
him? 



Extract from Mr. Rittenhouse's Oration, before the American Philoso- 
phical Society of Philadelphia, February 24, 1775. 

" The opinion of the earth's rotation on its axis was once 
violently opposed, from a notion of its dangerous tendency 
with respect to the interests of reUgion : but as truth is always 
consistent with itself, so many new proofs were furnished, 
from time to time, by new discoveries, that a mistaken inter- 
pretation of some passages in the Bible was compelled to give 
way to the force of astronomical evidence. The doctrine of 
a plurality of worlds is inseparable from the principles of as- 
tronomy ; but this doctrine is still thought, by some pious 
persons, and by many more I fear, who do not deserve that 
title, to militate against the truths asserted by the Christian 
religion. If I may be allowed to give my opinion on a matter 
of such Importance, I must confess that I think, upon a proper 
examination, the apparent inconsistency will vanish. Our 
religion teaches us what philosophy could not have taught ; 
and we ought to admire with reverence the great things it has 
pleased divine Providence to perform, beyond the ordinary 
course of nature^ for man, who is undoubtedly the most no- 
ble inhabitant of this globe. But neither religion nor philoso- 
phy forbids us to believe that infinite wisdom and power, 
prompted by infinite goodness, may, throughout the vast ex- 
tent of creation and duration, have frequently interposed in a 
manner quite incomprehensible to us, when it became neces- 



32 BIOGRAPHY OF 

sary to the happiness of created beings of some other rank or 
degree. 

"How far, indeed, the inhabitants of the other planets may- 
resemble man, we cannot pretend to say. If, like him, they 
were created liable to fall, yet some, if not all of them, may 
still retain their original rectitude. We will hope they do : 
the thought is comfortable. — Cease, Galileo, to improve thy 
optic tube : and thou, great Newton, forbear thy ardent search 
into the distant mysteries of nature ; lest ye make unwelcome 
discoveries. Deprive us not of the pleasure of believing that 
yonder radiant orbs, traversing in silent majesty the ethereal 
regions, are the peaceful seats of innocence and bliss ; where 
neither natural nor moral evil has ever yet intruded ; where 
to enjoy with gratitude and adoration the Creator's bounty, is 
the business of existence. If their inhabitants resemble man 
in their faculties and affections, let us suppose that they are 
wise enough to govern themselves accoi'ding to the dictates of 
that reason their creator has given them, in such manner as 
to consult their own and each other's true happiness, on all 
occasions. But if, on the contrary, they have found it neces- 
sary to erect artificial fabrics of government, let us not sup- 
pose that they have done it with so little skill, and at such an 
enormous expense, as must render them a misfortune instead 
of a blessing. We will hope that their statesmen are patriots, 
and that their kings, if that order of beings has found admit- 
tance there, have the feelings of humanity. — Happy people ! 
and perhaps more happ)' still, that all communication with us 
is denied. We have neither corrupted you with our vices, 
nor injured you by violence. None of your sons and daugh- 
ters, degraded from their native dignity, have been doomed to 
endless slavery to us in America, merely because their bodies 
may be disposed to reflect or absorb the rays of light in a way 
different from ours. Even you, inhabitants of the moon, situ- 
ated in our very neighbourhood, are effectually secured, alike 
from the rapacious hand of the haughty Spaniard and of the 



DAVID RITTENHOUSE. 33 

unfeeling British nabob. Even British thunder, impelled by- 
British thirst of gain cannot reach you : and the utmost efforts 
of the mighty Frederick, that tyrant of the north and scourge 
of mankind, if aimed to disturb your peace, becomes incon- 
ceivably ridiculous and impotent. 

" Pardon these reflections ; they rise not from the gloomy 
spirit of misanthropy. That being, before whose })iercing eye 
all the intricate foldings and dark recesses of the human heart 
become expanded and illuminated, is my witness with what 
sincerity, with what ardour, I wish for the happiness of the 
whole race of mankind ; how much I admire that disposition 
of lands and seas, which affords a communication between 
distant regions, and a mutual exchange of benefits : how sin- 
cerely I approve of those social refinements which really add 
to our happiness, and induce us with gratitude to acknowledge 
our great Creator's goodness : — how I delight in a participa- 
tion of the discoveries made from time to time in nature's 
works by our philosophic brethren in Europe. 

" But when I consider, that luxury and her constant fol- 
lower tyranny^ who have long since laid in the dust, never to 
rise again, the glories of Asia, are now advancing like a tor- 
rent, irresistible, whose weight no human force can stem, and 
have nearly completed their conquests of Europe ; luxury and 
tyranny, who by a vile affectation of virtues they know not, 
pretend, at first, to be the patrons of science and philosophy, 
but at length fail not effectually to destroy them : agitated, I 
say, by these reflections, I am ready to wish — vain wish ! that 
nature would raise her everlasting bars between the new and 
old world ; and make a voyage to Europe as impracticable as 
one to the moon. I confess, indeed, that by our connexions 
with Europe we have made most surprising, I had almost said 
unnatural advances towards the meridian of glory ; but by 
those connexions too, in all probability, our fall will be pre- 
mature. May the God of knowledge inspire us with wisdom 
to prevent it : let our harbours, our doors, our hearts, be shut 



34 BIOGRAPHY OF 

against luxury. But I return to my subject, and will no 
longer indulge these melancholy thoughts. 

" If it shall please that Almighty Power who hath placed 
us in a world, wherein we are only permitted " to look about 
vs and to die ;''"' should it please him to indulge us with ex- 
istence throughout that half of eternity which still remains 
unspent ; and to conduct us through the several stages of his 
works ; here is ample provision made for employing every 
faculty of the human mind, even allowing its powers to be 
constantly enlarged through an endless repetition of ages. 
Let us not complain of the vanity of this world, that there is 
nothing in it capable of satisfying us ; happy in those wants, 
happy in those restless desires, for ever in succession to be 
gratified ; happy in a continued approach to the Deity. 

*' I must confess that I am not one of those sanguine spirits 
who seem to think that when the withered hand of death hath 
drawn up the curtain of eternity, almost all distance between 
the creature and creator, between finite and infinite, will be 
annihilated. Every enlargement of our faculties, every new 
happiness conferred upon us, every step we advance towards 
the perfection of the divinity, will very probably render us 
more and more sensible of his inexhaustible stores of commu- 
nicable bliss, and of his inaccessible perfections. 

" Were we even assured that we shall perish like the flowers 
of the garden, how careful would a wise man be to preserve 
a good conscience, during the short period of his existence ! 
because by his very constitution, which he cannot alter, this 
is his pride and glory, and absolutely necessary to his present 
happiness ; because this would insure to him at the approach 
of death, the soothing reflection, that he was going to restore, 
pure and uncorrupted, that drop of divinity within him, to the 
original ocean from whence it was separated. How much 
more anxiously careful ought we to be, if we believe, as pow- 
erful arguments compel us to believe, that a conduct in this 
life depending on our own choice, will stamp our characters 



DAVID RITTENIIOUSE. 35 

for ages yet to come. Who can endure the thought of dark- 
ening his faculties by an unworthy application of them here 
on earth, and degrading himself to some inferior rank of being, 
wherein he may find both his power and inclination to obtain 
wisdom, and exercise virtue, exceedingly diminished 1 On the 
other hand, if that humble admiration and gratitude, which 
sometimes rises in our minds when we contemplate the power, 
wisdom, and goodness of the Deity, constitutes by far the most 
sublimely happy moments of our lives, and probably will for 
ever continue to do so, there cannot be a stronger incitement 
to the exercise of virtue and a rational employment of those 
talents we are entrusted with, than to consider that by these 
means we shall in a few years be promoted to a more exalted 
rank amongst the creatures of God ; have our understandings 
greatly enlarged ; be enabled to follow truth, in all her laby- 
rinths, with a higher relish and more facility, and thus lay the 
foundation of an eternal improvement in knowledge and hap- 
piness." 



36 BIOGRAPHY OF 



THOMAS GODFREY, SR. 

It is painful to know, that the fate of genius has become a 
standing theme with the historian or biographer. Trite and 
familiar, however, as are the reflections which present them- 
selves, yet, every instance of the melancholy destiny on earth, 
of some of the gifled children of lofly aspirations and impulses, 
will always beget a due share of sorrowful regret. It must 
needs be, that sympathy should be awakened for the untoward 
fortunes of those who lived neglected ; struggling, perhaps, 
with the evils of penury, or the cruelty of ignorant prejudice, 
and dying without the cheering consciousness, that the world 
hereafter would honour their names, or even know that they 
once lived. 

But, if sensibilities, so honourable to our nature, are mourn- 
fully experienced in the breast, when a neglect in properly 
estimating or encouraging merit, is perceived, of what nature 
should be our emotions, when an act of deliberate and posi- 
tive injury to a benefactor of mankind, is wantonly perpe- 
trated ! It is, in most instances, that these favoured sons 
of an inward " mystic fire," expend the mighty energies of 
their spirits' power, in securing for themselves some share of 
fame or renown; careless of the worldly tribute, which a pe- 
cuniary recompense might afford. It is, that they may be 
honoured among men, and their names be held in homage by 
succeeding generations, that they struggle against the thousand 
evils of life, indifferent as to its necessities or comforts. They 
toil for glory : and meteor though it may be, yet the impulse 
is a noble one ; for the motive is not mingled with baser dross, 
nor tainted with the meaner springs of human action. And, 
when that is reached, for which they have more earnestly 
laboured than mortals have ever laboured for earthly gain ; 



THOMAS GODFREY, SR. 37 

to secure "which, repose would not be sought, though Nature 
called, and made perhaps a premature death the penalty of 
disobedience to her commands ; and for which much, if not 
all that sweetens life, was cast away, because the throbbing 
soul would not be arrested in her career, — when thus made 
their own, and then to lose it by injustice, is a case so deeply 
marked with cruelty, that the most stoical must sympathize 
in the decision awarded by a world which is not worthy of 
those who were its ornament and praise. 

Such was the melancholy fate of him whose name stands 
at the head of this article. Having succeeded in bringing to 
perfection an improvement in one of the most useful instru- 
ments in navigation, and lessening the dangers of the mariner, 
he was deprived of the merit of his invention, and permitted to 
die in comparative obscurity. He had achieved a triumph in 
science ; and by his genius had secured a benefit to the world. 
But the result of his laborious investigations, of the long toil 
of his mind, was not only neglect, but the bitter mortification 
of knowing that another, who deserved it not, enjoyed the 
favour which belonged to him, and bore away the proud hon- 
ours which himself had won, for an immortality of fame. 

Indeed, every thing about and around Godfrey, in respect 
to his life and fortunes, is singularly remarkable and unfor- 
tunate. Although known to many scientific gentlemen, who 
were his contemporaries, yet of his origin, or even of the time 
of his death, no distinct account is given. He was born in the 
city of Philadelphia, and followed the business of a glazier for 
some period of his life. In this humble occupation, however, 
he contrived, through a close application to mathematics and 
astronomy, to make himself worthy of the notice of Dr. Frank- 
lin, the Honourable James Logan, Secretary of the Province, 
Dr. William Smith, and others, who could appreciate his tal- 
ents, and estimate aright his acquisitions. The first named 
of the above gentlemen was, for a time, an inmate of the family 
of Godfrey ; and in his interesting autobiography, states, that 
4 



38 BIOGRAPHY OF 

he was the inventor of the Quadrant, and was " a man whoHy 
absorbed in mathematical studies." That he had made no 
inconsiderable improvement in these, a reference to the letter 
of his patron, appended to this article, will demonstrate. Not 
only by the strength of his mind, and close application, had 
he made a remarkable progress, but, in order to pursue his 
researches, he became a proficient in the Latin tongue, the 
language in which many valuable treatises were, at that time, 
written. And it was amid the calls of bis humbje occupation, 
perhaps amid the anxieties consequent upon a limited income, 
that he was thus enabled to present another instance of the 
power of genius, in overcoming obstacles of magnitude. 

That the honour of the invention of the Quadrant, now falsely 
called Hadley's, belongs to Godfrey, is capable of the most 
positive proof. It is vouched for by men, not more illustrious 
in science, than eminent for the integrity of their characters. ; 
and on the pages of the Royal Society's proceedings, there js 
recorded the letter of the original and real inventor. Even 
an explanation of the manner in which he was deprived of 
the merit and honour of making the instrument, is given in 
the American Magazine for 1757-8. To place the matter in 
as clear a view as possible, extracts from this publication will 
be given, along with the letter to the Royal Society. It will, 
unfortunately, be seen, that national jealousy alone could 
have influenced a decision so opposite to the first principles 
of justice ; and that an institution, venerable for the very ob- 
jects of its establishment, denied to Godfrey the acknowledg- 
ment of his claim. It was withholden from him in cruelty ; 
and upon another was bestowed the bounty which might 
have relieved the humble child of genius, as well as the glory 
for which he aimed, and which he had fairly won. 

Who was Tbotnas Godfrey, Senior? 

Where was he born ? 

What trade did he follow ? 

Where did he acquire a knowledge of Mathematics and Latin? 



THOMAS GODFREY, SR. 39 

What important instrument did he invent t 

What is a quadrant ? Is it very useful ? 

Did he receive any reward for his invention ? 

Who was it that received undue credit? 

Why was it that Godfrey did not reap the benefit of his ingenuity ? 



Extracts from the American Magazine, 1757-8. 
** On the invention of ike Quadrant, commonly called Hadley^sJ'^ 

*' The great improvement which the art of navigation has 
received from the invention of this instrument, must ever place 
those concerned in it, among the highest class of names that 
will be remembered by posterity. Though Mr. Hadley, 
(whose fame in the learned world can suffer no diminution 
by what we are now to publish,) has great merit in the 
improvement of this instrument, which bears his name, yet 
there is sufficient reason to conclude that he was not the first 
ifiventcT. 

•*' In the * Philosophical Transactions, No. 435,' there is an 
account of Mr. Thomas Godfrey's Improvement of Davis's 
Quadrant, transferred to the Mariner's Bow, by the late Mr. 
Logan, of this place, whose reputation in mathematics was 
inferior to few in his day. In that account, it appears that 
Mr. Godfrey, of this city, had begun to think of that matter 
05 early as the year 1730. He was a glazier by trade, and 
a man of no education, but perhaps the most singular phe- 
nomenon that ever appeared in the learned world, for a kind 
of natural or intuitive knowledge of the abstrusest parts of 
rnatliematics and astronomy. 

*' In order, therefore, to show how far the honour of this 
invention is due to Mr. Godfrey, and his patron, Mr. Logan, 
we propose to publish Mr. Logan's original account, referred 
to in the above quoted number of the Philosophical Transac- 
tions ; together with two letters to the Royal Society, written 
previous to that account, one by Mr. Logan and the other by 
Mr. Godfrey himself. These three letters will give a com- 



40 BIOGRAPHY OF 

plete view of the whole affair, in its rise and progress. They 
were put into our hands by a sensible and candid citizen of 
Philadelphia, with the following pertinent introduction, and, 
therefore, their authenticity, if they were doubted, may be 
easily vouched. 

To the Proprietors, Sec. 
" Gentlemen, 

" All civilized states have thought it their honour to have 
men of great ingenuity born or bred among them. Many 
cities of ancient Greece had long and sharp contentions for 
the honour of Homer's birth-place. And, in later times, 
volumes have been written in Europe, in disputing which city 
had the true claim to the invention of the art of printing. 
Nor is it to be wondered that mankind should be so generally 
eager in this respect, since nothing redounds more to the 
honour of any state than to have it said that some science 
of general utility to mankind was invented or improved by 
them. 

" Nevertheless, it often happens that the true authors Of 
many an useful invention, either by accident or fraud, lose 
the credit thereof; and, from age to age, it passes in the name 
of another. Thus it happened, heretofore, to Columbus, and 
many others ; and thus also it has happened to a native of 
Philadelphia. 

"Mr. Thomas Godfrey, it is well known to many of us 
here, was the real inventor of that very useful instrument 
called Hadley's quadrant, or octant. To him the merit is 
due, and to his posterity the profit ought to belong. This will 
fully appear from the three following genuine letters, which, 
I persuade myself, you'll think worthy of being recorded in 
your Magazine, in order to restore, as far as possible, the 
credit of that invention to our city, and to the posterity of Mr. 
Godfrey. Plow he came to be deprived of it, may be made 
a question by some. I answer, that Mr. Godfrey sent the in- 



THOMAS GODFREY, SR. 41 

strument to be tried at sea, by an acquaintance of his, an 
ingenious navigator, in a voyage to Jamaica, who showed it 
to a captain of a ship there, just sailing for England, by which 
means it came to the knowledge of Mr. Hadley, though, per- 
haps, without his being told the name of the real inventor. 
This fact is sufficiently known to many seamen and others 
yet alive in this city ; and established beyond doubt by the 
following letters, written about that time. It is therefore sub- 
mitted to the world, whether, after perusing the letters, they 
ought not, in justice, to call that instrument, for the future, 
Godfrey's, and not Hadley's, quadrant ?" 



To Dr. Edmund Halley.* 

•* Esteemed Friend, 

" The discovery of the longitude having of late years em- 
ployed the thoughts of many, and the world now expecting, 
from thy great sagacity and industry, some advances towards 
it, far exceeding all former attempts, from the motion of the 
moon ; to the ascertaining of which, thy labours have so long 
and happily been directed, the following notice, I hope, will 
neither be thought unseasonable, nor prove unacceptable. 
That the success of that method depends on finding the 
moon's true place for one meridian, by calculation, and for 
another, by observation, I think is generally allowed. The 
first of which being depended on, from thy great genius, what 
remains is some certain method for observation, practicable 
on that unstable element, the sea. 

" In order to this, thy predecessor at Greenwich, if I mis- 
take not, for some years published his calculation for the 
moon's future appulse to the fixt stars, which would save all 
observation, but that of a glass ; but these not often happen- 
ing, and the moon often having a considerable parallax when 
they did, that project dropt. 

* King's Astronomer at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. 

4* 



42 BIOGRAPHY OF 

" For finding her place by taking her greater distances 
from stars, the fore-staff or cross-staff cannot be exact 
enough ; and quadrants, sextants, &c., with two telescopes, 
are impracticable at sea. 

" Dr. Biester's late proposal for taking the difference of 
rad. ascension between the moon and a star, if that should 
prove practicable, with sufficient exactness, would undoubt- 
edly answer the intention of all that is to be expected from 
the moon, if her place was taken on or near the meridian. 
But to keep the arch of this instrument in the plane of the 
equator, and at the same time view two objects of unequal 
altitudes, and considerable distance from each other, by the 
edges of two sights, with the necessary accuracy, will not, 
perhaps, be so easy in practice as he would have it believed. 

" I shall, therefore, here presume, from thy favour shown 
me in England, in 1724, to communicate an invention, that, 
whether it answer the end or not, will be allowed, I believe, 
to deserve thy regard. I have it thus : 

" A young man, born in this country, Thomas Godfrey by 
name, by trade a glazier, who had no other education, than 
to learn to read and write, with a little common arithmetic, 
having, in his apprenticeship with a very poor man of that 
trade, accidentally met with a mathematical book, took such 
a fancy to the study, that, by the natural strength of his ge- 
nius, without any instructor, he soon made himself master of 
that, and of every other of the kind he could borrow or pro- 
cure in English ; and, finding there was more to be had in 
Latin books, under all imaginable discouragements, applied 
himself to the study of that language, till he could pretty well 
understand an author on these subjects ; afier which, the first 
time I ever saw or heard of him, to my knowledge, he came 
to borrow Sir Isaac Newton's Principia of me. Inquiring of 
him, hereupon, who he was, I was indeed astonished at his 
request, but, after a little discourse, he soon became welcome 
to that, or any other book I had. This young man, about 



THOMAS GODFREY, SR. 43 

eighteen months since, told me he had for some time been 
thinking of an instrument for taking the distance of stars, by 
reflecting speculums, which he beheved might be of service 
at sea; and not long after he showed me a common sea 
quadrant, to which he had fitted two pieces of looking-glass, 
in such a manner as brought two stars at almost any distance, 
to coincide ; the one by a direct, and the other by a reflected 
ray, so that the eye could take them both together, as joined 
in one, while a moving label, or index, on the graduated arch, 
marked exactly half their distance. For I need not say, that 
the variations of the angles of reflection, from two speculums, 
are double to the angle of the inclination of their planes, and, 
therefore, gives but half the angle or arch of the distance, 
which is the only inconveniency that appears to me to attend 
this. But, as it may be made so simple, easy, and light, as 
not to be much more unwieldy or unmanageable, though of 
a considerable length, than a single telescope of the same, 
that inconveniency will be abundantly compensated. 

" The description of it, as he proposes it, and has got one 
made, is nearly thus, which he is willing I should communi- 
cate to thee, if possibly it may be of service. [Here follows 
a description of Godfrey's Quadrant.] 

" And, if the method of discovering the longitude by the 
moon, is to meet with a reward, and this instrument, which, 
for all that I have ever heard or read of, is an invention alto- 
gether new, be made use of, in that case I would recommend 
the inventor to thy justice and notice. He now gets his own 
and family's bread, (for he is married,) by the labour of his 
own hands only, by that mean trade. He had begun to make 
tables of the moon, on the very same principles with thine, till 
I lately put a copy of those that have lain so many years 
printed, but not published, with W. Inny's, into his hands, and 
then, highly approving of them, he desisted. We both wish 
very much to see thy tables completed, and ushered into the 
world by thy own hand. On thy receipt of this, I shall hope 



44 BIOGRAPHY OF 

for a line, with thy thoughts on it, which, however they prove, 
will afford a pleasure to thy real friend, 

" J. Logan. 

" Pennsylvania, May '25th, 1732." 



Letter II. By Mr. Godfrey. 

Further extracts from the American Magazine. 

" In our last we inserted a letter of the late James Logan, 
Esq. of this city, giving an account of Mr. Thomas Godfrey's 
first notions concerning the sea-quadrant. We now present 
two other original letters on that subject, the first by Mr. 
Godfrey himself, and the latter by Mr. Logan, further ex- 
plaining and digesting the whole." 



To the Royal Society. 
" Gentlemen, 

" As none are better able than the Royal Society to prove 
and judge whether such inventions as are proposed for the 
advancing usefijl knowledge will answer the pretensions of 
the inventors, or not ; and as I have been made acquainted, 
(though at so great a distance) of the candour of your learned 
society, in giving encouragement to such as merit approbation, 
I have therefore presumed to lay before the society the fol- 
lowing, craving pardon for my boldness. 

*' Finding by what difficulty a tolerable observation of the 
sun is taken by Davis's quadrant, and, that in using it, unless 
the spot or shade be brought truly in the line of the horizon- 
vane, the observation when made, is good for nothing, to do 
which requires much practice, and, at best, is but catching 
an observation ; and, considering farther, the smallness of 
the 60° arch, and the aptness of the wood to cast, which 
makes often little better than guess work, I therefore applied 
my thoughts, upwards of two years since, to find a more cer- 



THOMAS GODFREY, SR. 45 

tain instrument, and contrived the following improvement, as 
I think, in the make and use of the bow, viz : [here is repre- 
sented a diagram, or plate of the quadrant, succeeded by a 
full description.] 

" Succeeding so well with the sun, encouraged me to under- 
take what appeared a more difficult task, the finding some 
way to take the altitude of the stars at sea, (when the horizon 
may be seen,) better than by the forestaff, which I concluded, 
must be by bringing the two objects, horizon and star, to- 
gether. I first considered one reflection ; but the faults of 
Davis's quadrant were here enlarged, which is chiefly the fly- 
ing of the objects from each other, by the least motion of the 
instrument. 

"I then examined what two reflections would do, which 
perfectly answered my desire, being equally useful in taking 
the distance of stars from each other, and also from the moon, 
and, I believe, practicable at sea ; for I found, that when one 
star was made to coincide by two reflections with another, 
the distance of those stars would be double the inclination of 
the reflecting planes, as may be easily demonstrated. 

*' I see but one fault in this instrument, and that is, that 
three feet radius in this, has a graduation no larger than a 
quadrant of eighteen inches radius. I hope Dr. Halley has 
received a more full account of this from J. Logan, Esq. ,* 
then I shall add no more, than that I am, gentlemen, 

" Yours, &c. " T. Godfrey. 

" Philadelphia, November 9, 1734." 



Letter IIL By J. Logan, Esq. 

A further account of Thomas Godfrey'' s Improvement of Davis's Quad' 
rant, transferred to the Mariner''s Bow. 

" Being informed that this improvement, proposed by Tho- 
mas Godfrey, of this place, for observing the sun's altitude at 



46 BIOGRAPHY OF 

sea, with more ease and expedition than is practicable by the 
common instrument in use for that purpose, was last winter 
laid before the Royal Society, in his own description of it, 
and that some gentlemen wished to see the benefit intended 
by it more fully and clearly explained, 1, who have here the 
opportunity of knowing the author's thoughts on such subjects, 
being persuaded in my judgment, that if the instrument, as he 
proposes it, be brought into practice, it will, in many cases, 
be of great service to navigation, have therefore thought it 
proper to draw up a more full account of it than the author 
himself has given, with the advantages attending it, which, if 
approved of by better judgments, to whom what T offer is en- 
tirely submitted, it is hoped the use of it will be recommended 
and further encouraged, as well as the author. The rise of 
the improvement, with its conveniences, as also a description 
of it, are as follows : 

" Thomas Godfrey having, under the greatest disadvantages, 
(as I observed in my first letter to Dr. Halley, giving an ac- 
count of the invention of the reflecting instrument,) made 
himself master of the principles of astronomy and optics, as 
well as other parts of the mathematical science, applied his 
thoughts to consider the instrument used in that momentous 
part of business, navigation. He saw, that on the knowledge 
of the latitude and longitude of the place a ship is in, the lives 
of thousands of useful subjects, as well as valuable cargoes, 
continually depend ; — that for finding the first of these, certain 
and easy methods are furnished by nature, if observations be 
truly made. But Davis's quadrant, the instrument used by 
British navigators, (though seldom by foreigners,) he perceived, 
was attended with this inconveniency, that the observer must 
bring the shade or spot of light from the sun, and the rays 
from the horizon, to coincide exactly on the siducial edge of 
the horizontal vane ; — that, though this can be done in mode- 
rate weather and seas, with a clear sky, and when the sun is 
not too high, without any great difficulty ; yet, in other cases, 



THOMAS GODFREY, SR. 47 

it requires more accuracy than can, in some junctures, possi- 
bly be applied, and more time than can be allowed for it. 

" Considering this, and the vast importance of such despatch, 
in the case of great altitudes, or of tempestuous seas or be- 
clouded skies, 't is presumed, the instrument thus made will 
be judged preferable to all others of the kind yet known. 
Some masters of vessels, who sail from hence to the West 
Indies, have got some of them made as well as they can be 
done here, and have found so great an advantage in the fa- 
cility, and in the ready use of them, in those southerly lati- 
tudes, that they reject all others. And it can scarce be 
doubted, but when the instrument becomes more generally 
known, it may, upon the Royal Society's approbation, if the 
thing appears worthy of it, more universally obtain in prac- 
tice. 'Tis now four years since Thomas Godfrey hit on this 
improvement ; for his account of it, laid before the Society 
last winter, in which he mentioned two years, was wrote in 
1732, and in the same year, 1730, after he was satisfied in 
this, he applied himself to think of the other, viz: the reflect- 
ing instrument, by speculums, for a help in the case of longi- 
tude, though it is also useful in taking altitudes ; and one of 
these, as has been abundantly proved by the maker, and those 
who had it with them, was taken to sea, and there used in 
observing the latitude, the winter of that year, and brought 
back again to Philadelphia, before the end of February, 1730-1, 
and was in my keeping some months immediately after. It 
was, indeed, unhappy, that having it in my power, seeing he 
had no acquaintance nor knowledge of persons in England, 
that I transmitted not an account of it sooner. But I had 
other affairs of more importance to me; and it was owing to 
an accident, which gave me some uneasiness, viz : his at- 
tempting to publish some account of it in print here, that I 
transmitted it at last in May, 1732, to Dr. Halley, to whom, 
I made no doubt, but the invention would appear entirely 
new ; and I must own, I could not but wonder that our good 



48 BIOGRAPHY OF 

will at least was never acknowledged. This, on my part, 
was all the merit I had to claim, nor did I then, or now, as- 
sume any other, in either of these instruments. I only wish 
that the ingenious inventor himself might, by some means, be 
taken notice of, in a manner that might be of real advantage 
to him. [Here follows a description, &c.] 

" Thus, doubting I have already been too prolix on the 
subject, to which nothing but a sincere inclination to promote 
any thing that might contribute to a public benefit, and to do 
some justice to merit, could induce me, I shall only request, 
that what I have here offered may be construed by that inten- 
tion. " J. Logan. 

" Philadelphia, June 28, 1734." 

Note by the editors. — " It is easy to see, by a careful 
perusal of these two letters, and that in our last Magazine, the 
progress of this invention, and how far Mr. Godfrey ought to 
be considered as the inventor. 'Tis our business to give im- 
partial accounts of facts, and transcripts of authentic papers. 
The reader, after that, is to judge for himself. For our part, 
we have no hesitation in pronouncing Mr. Godfrey the real 
original inventor of this famous and useful instrument." 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 49 

FRANCIS HOPKINSON, 

Born MDCCXXXVII — Died MDCCXCI. 

A RETROSPECT of events in the first century of American 
history, cannot fail in exciting our wonder at the long array 
of wise and good men, who were called, under Providence, 
to direct to a prosperous issue, the national coirasels ; or to 
erect, in imposing grandeur, the monuments of national 
glory. From the settlement of the colonies, to the happy 
result of a people's struggle against oppression, every por- 
tion of the record is impressed with the seal of intellectual 
power, as every registry is marked with the firm and broad 
stamp of moral and sublime courage. It was a period pro- 
lific in all that gives a higher elevation to man, in the scale 
of his being ; and it would seem, that the age, foreseen to be 
one of great revolutions, was provided for, as for some mighty 
contest of mind with mind ; and that in the wilds of America, 
there were prepared and qualified by the God of nations, the 
noble spirits who were to meet, and battle, and triumph, in 
a strife, between antiquated error and eternal truth ; — in the 
war of accumulating usurpation with the enduring principles 
of liberty ; — or in the onset of hoary folly, against the beam- 
ing day-spring of light and knowledge. 

In whatever view the men of that period may be regarded, 
the conclusion will force itself upon the mind, that they 
indeed were of no common mould. Among them, were to 
be found the most enthusiastic votaries of science, or the no 
less ardent students of philosophy or literature; amid cir- 
cumstances, too, the least encouraging, if not repelling. Rit- 
tenhouse and Franklin, labouring under all the deprivations 
which colonial settlements must necessarily present in their 
first establishments, soared in their lofty aspirations, even to 
5 



50 BIOGRAPHY OF 

the heaven-land of brighter and purer intelligences : and in 
spirit, they dwelt there, as the denizens of a home, with 
which Nature's title had invested them. In all the freshened 
luxuriance of their great and important discoveries, they 
showed the products of their unaided search ; the treasures 
of their own unaided inquiries. And in almost every depart- 
ment of knowledge, there could be found some gifted mind ; 
struggling against difficulties the most appalling, in order to 
reach the enviable summit of renown. Even those arts, 
which embellish life, and lend it some of its sweetest charms, 
could number among their followers, the panting children of 
genius; born in the wild and unreclaimed wilderness of a 
new world. 

And the moral attributes of the men of that age were of 
a kind, that should beget our greatest reverence. The pure 
and sterling integrity of their characters, has never been 
exceeded on this theatre of human error and frailty. Their 
public virtues were ever resplendent and vigorous ; unsullied 
by suspicion and unmarred by any prevailing crime. In the 
privacy of domestic life, they cultivated the graces, which 
sanctify the circle of those we love the most : and in the 
more extended social connexions, they were the deserved 
ornaments. Take them singly or collectively : contemplate 
the pure and revered Father of his Country, or the amiable 
Astronomer of Pennsylvania ; or look to the band of patriots 
in the continental congress, or to the legion of revolutionary 
soldiers, and the soul must glow with emotions of hallowed 
and hallowing joy, that such a line of good and great men, 
were of the land of our birth. In the cabinet or in the field ; 
in the schools of wisdom, or around the hearth of the spirit's 
holiest and best affections, they were the transcripts of what 
mankind should be, when to the highest grade of intellectual 
capacity they add the influences of our blessed Faith, to 
direct and control them in every station, and under every 
circumstance. From the guidance of such men, our countrv 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 51 

was blessed by the God of providence ; and evil m\\ be the 
day, and ominous of evil to her onward prosperity, when 
their examples and their virtues shall no longer be reverenced 
or followed. 

Among these, the name of Francis Hopkinson, is con- 
spicuously prominent. Descended from parents of literary 
refinement, and worldly competence, he was enabled to 
acquire an education which added to his personal merit, and 
enabled him to take a prominent and useful part in the affairs 
of his country, at a crisis, which demanded the purest pa- 
triotism and the soundest wisdom. With a mind peculiarly 
constituted, and capable of an adaptation to the nature of any 
subject of its notice and inquiry, however varied, he could 
be interested in matters of grave legislation, or of religious 
solemnity ; of polite literature, or playful fancy. By the hap- 
piest and most sudden transitions, the heavy volume of legal 
lore was exchanged for the lighter page of poetry ; and the 
holy offices of religion, of which he ever was the zealous 
disciple, could be succeeded by the elevating pleasures of 
music, or researches in natural science, to which he devoted 
an enthusiastic attention. As a patriot he was inflexibly 
virtuous ; as a jurist, profoundly qualified ; as a poet, chaste 
in his conceptions, and harmonious in his versification ; and 
as a satirist, of cutting ridicule, without bitterness or cruel 
severity. His services to his country were of immeasurable 
benefit in the day of her most serious struggle ; and his per- 
sonal virtues are the best comment upon those moral and 
religious principles, with which his mind and heart were 
early imbued. 

The subject of cur present memoir was born in the city 
of Philadelphia, on September 28th, 1737. His father was 
Thomas Hopkinson : an English gentleman of great respect- 
ability and extensive learning. Having connected himself in 
marriage with Miss Johnson, a niece of the Bishop of Worces- 
ter, then an eminent prelate of the established church, he 



52 BIOGRAPHY OF 

received the flattering marks of his sovereign's favour, in being 
appointed to a colonial station in the Province. He adopted 
the theatre of his official employment for a permanent home, 
and soon reached that distinction in society to which his great 
talents and virtues entitled him. That the former were of a 
high order, and employed in the more abstract and difficult 
branches of learning, is evident from the circumstance of his 
having communicated to Dr. Franklin the idea of attracting 
the electric fluid by means of metallic points, instead of a blunt 
instrument, as previously employed. The experiment was 
successfully exhibited to the American philosopher : and that 
it was original with Mr. Hopkinson, is asserted with confidence 
in the cotemporaneous publications of that day, preserved in 
our public libraries. The incident was likewise frequently- 
referred to by Mrs. Hopkinson, when, in the pride of her 
heart, she alluded to the merit of an affectionate husband, in 
discovering the mode of obviating the severe shock and explo- 
sion of previous attractions, and the glory of a new discovery 
in science. 

Of the great worth of this lady, — that her mind was of a 
high order, and that her religion was of an elevated tone, we 
have most fortunately the best evidences, derived from the 
manner in which she acquitted herself in directing the educa- 
tion of her son. Called to the performance of the responsible 
duty by an early bereavement, the amiable and accomplished 
widow bent all her care to the beloved child, who was the heir 
of his father's fame, and, as it would seem, the inheritor of his 
talents. Having received from this parent the domestic train- 
ing and elementary instruction requisite, he was entered in the 
Academy of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania, 
and soon endeared himself to Provost Smith ; a gentleman not 
more eminent as a scholar and divine, than for those sterling, 
but rare qualities of heart, which attract and win ingenuous 
youth. He passed the college course with much credit, and 
received the honours of the institution at the first commence- 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 53 

ment which was held after its establishment. Having been 
entered as a student with Benjamin Chew, Esq., attorney- 
general of the state, he devoted his attention to the law with 
such application, that his attainments were of no common ex- 
tent in that pursuit, and evidence, that though he cherished a fond 
attachment to the higher branches of literature, he had yet, by 
industrious study, acquired a full knowledge of his arduous pro- 
fession. In addition to his acquaintance with jurisprudence, and 
according to the account of a contemporary who intimately knew 
him, the learned and amiable Dr. Rush, " he excelled in music 
and poetry, and had some knowledge in painting. But these 
arts did not monopolize all the powers of his mind : for he was 
well skilled in many practical and useful sciences, particularly 
mathematics and natural philosophy, and had a general ac- 
quaintance with the principles of anatomy, chemistry and natu- 
ral history. But his forte was humour and satire ; in both of 
which, he was not surpassed by Lucian, Swift, or Rabelais. 
These extraordinary powers were consecrated to the advance- 
ment of the interests of patriotism, virtue and science !" 

Having completed his law studies, he visited his relations 
in the land of his ancestors, in the year 1765, and remained 
there for upwards of two years. On his return, he married 
Miss Borden, a daughter of the proprietor of the manor of 
that name, in the state of New Jersey, and where- he fixed 
his residence. Domestic duties now claimed his concern ; 
and an increasing family received the affectionate attentions 
of one, who, himself, had been blessed with the instruction 
of an amiable and devoted mother. Of the happiness which 
must have reigned in the home of Mr. Hopkinson, from the 
affections v/hich were cultivated and practised by those who 
composed his family circle, the beautiful and striking descrip- 
tion given by a friend, with much felicity, is a remarkable 
evidence : " the fear his children had of him, was that of 
wounding his affections, and not of exciting his anger !" 

From such a hallowed bliss as that which was the portion 
5* 



54 BIOGRAPHY OF 

of Mr. Hopkinson, and from his fond retirement, he was 
called by the troubles which began to agitate his country, on 
account of the designs of Great Britain. His patriotism 
would not allow him to remain an uninterested spectator of 
the events which were occurring in the political world ; and 
he accordingly bent the energies of his mind to the aid of the 
oppressed. A tract, entitled a " Pretty Story," was written 
by him and published ; in which, the arbitrary injustice of 
England was exposed. It excited much attention at the time ; 
and was undoubtedly instrumental in awakening and sustain- 
ing the noble opposition to the wrongs of the mother country. 
Soon after he was delegated to the American Congress, and 
affixed his name to the ever memorable Declaration of Inde* 
pendence. Whilst occupying this exalted station, he was 
industriously employed in producing essays of a political cha- 
racter — all of them marked by his peculiar vein of lively 
ridicule, and from this quality calculated, in a high degree, 
to effect the purpose of his patriotism. His "Prophecy," 
" Letters of a Tory," " Political Catechism," " Answer to 
General Burgoyne's Proclamation," and " History of a New 
Roof," were among these; and for humorous point and 
good sense, are not surpassed by any similar productions. 

The high estimation in which his talents and worth were 
held, influenced his appointment to the Loan Office, and soon 
after, he succeeded George Ross, Esq., as judge of the Admi- 
ralty Court, for the state of Pennsylvania. Of his exceed- 
ingly great capacity for this elevated office, it is observed of 
his decisions, that whenever appealed from to the Superior 
Court, they were invariably confirmed by that bench. Not 
did the arduous and responsible duties of his office, prevent 
him from bestowing his attention to general literature or the 
politics of the day. The latter had been discussed witli much 
asperity and violence, in the public papers; and to allay 
these, Mr. Hopkinson, under the signature of " Calamus," 
proposed the " High Court of Honour ;" the vehicle of whoso 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 55 

proceedings, was to be a paper, to be called the " Rascal's 
Record." In the succeeding year, he prepared an imaginary- 
case for this court, out of which grew the following amusing 
circumstance. The account is supplied by Mr. Hopkinson. 

"The piece had been inclosed in a cover, addressed to 
James Wilson, Esq., for whom it had been designed, and sent 
to his house. Mr. Wilson not being at home, his servant 
received the packet, and stuck it behind the parlour looking- 
glass. A Captain , who was frequently deranged in his 

mind, and at such times full of notions of plots and conspira- 
cies, went into Mr. Wilson's parlour, without knocking, when 
none of the family happened to be there, and seeing the packet 
in the frame of the looking-glass, took it down and went off 
with it. There was at this time a cause agitated in the Su- 
preme Court of great popular attention, in which Mr. Wilson 
and most of the gentlemen of the bar were engaged. The 
next day I went into court, and happening to be seated near 
Mr. Wilson, I asked him if he had received my packet ; he 
told me he did not get home till late in the evening ; that the 
servant informed him there had been a letter for him, and 
that he had put it behind the glass ; but that it had all at once 
disappeared, and nobody could give any account of it, although 
inquiry had been made throughout the whole family. Whilst 
we were thus talking, a cry of " make way there 1" was heard 

in the court, when Captain pushing his way through the 

crowd, appeared before the bar with papers in his hand. He 
interrupted the lawyer, who was then speaking, and informed 
the judges that he had papers in his hand which would imme- 
diately clear up, and determine the cause before the court, and 
that he had also discovered a most horrible and dangerous 
plot, partly against the state, and partly against the judge of 
the admiralty ; confessing that he had made this great dis* 
covery by breaking into and robbing that gentleman's house, 
pointing to Mr. Wilson, declaring that so far as he was ame- 



56 BIOGRAPHY OF 

nable for the robbery, he stood ready to submit to the law. 
The papers, which I immediately knew to be mine, were 
lianded up to the bench, and the chief justice was preparing 
to read the contents aloud to the court ; but I forced my way 
up to him, and whispered him, that it was only a piece of 
literary sport between Mr. Wilson and me, and very unfit for 
the public ear on such an occasion. The papers were then 
delivered to Mr. Wilson, and the audience assured that they 
did not concern the present case." 

It will not be expected that a full account of the writings 
of our author will be given in this memoir. Of his poetic 
productions, which are remarkably smooth in their versifica- 
tion, his " Treaty," written on the banks of the Lehigh, when 
he was engaged as secretary to the commissioners for estab- 
lishing a covenant with several Indian nations, and " Science," 
are the largest. His facetious ballad, " The Battle of the 
Kegs," is the most popular of his pieces, and has given to him a 
permanent fame. Besides his decisions pronounced in the Ad- 
miralty Court, and which exhibit profound judgment, his prose 
productions are numerous. The greater part of them, how- 
ever, are of a political character, and written for the particu- 
lar occasions which called them forth. After the violence of 
party strife had subsided, he prepared some essays upon the 
subject of scholastic education ; and his " Collegiate Exami- 
nation," is a most happy specimen, not only of his acute dis- 
cernment, but sharp satire. His " Essay on Whitewashing" 
is familiar to almost every reader of polite literature in this 
country and Europe ; and it is a matter of grave inquiry, 
how this admirable article has been placed to the credit of 
Dr. Franklin ! 

In the year 1790, Mr. Hopkinson was elevated to thf» 
situation of judge of the District Court, in Pennsylvania ; but 
scarcely had he entered upon his new dignity, before death 
deprived his country and numerous friends of this estimable 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 67 

man. On Sunday evening, May 8th, 1791, he was some- 
what indisposed. He rose on Monday morning and break- 
fasted with his family. At seven o'clock, he was seized with 
an apoplectic fit, which in a few hours put a period to his 
valuable life, in the fifty-third year of his age ; bereaving an 
affectionate wife and five children, of an endeared husband 
and beloved parent. His eldest son, the Honourable Joseph 
Hopkinson, at present holding the same situation which his 
distinguished parent occupied at his death, and who has se- 
cured for himself a large share of the world's esteem, for his 
public and private virtues, is still living. He is favourably 
known as an admirable jurist, a pleasing orator, and the au- 
thor of our national anthem, " Hail Columbia." 

We close this article with the following remarks of his 
friend and admirer, Dr. B. Rush. 

" Mr. Hopkinson possessed uncommon talents for pleasing 
in company. His wit was not of that coarse kind which 
was calculated to " set the table in a roar." It was mild and 
elegant, and infused cheerfulness, and a species of delicate 
joy, rather than mirth, into the hearts of all who heard it. 
His empire over the attention and passions of his company 
was not purchased at the expense of innocence. A person 
who has passed many delightful hours in his society, declares 
with pleasure, that he never had once heard him use a pro- 
fane expression, nor utter a word that would have made a 
lady blush, or have clouded her countenance for a moment, 
with a look of disapprobation. It is this species of wit alone 
that indicates a rich and powerful imagination, while "that 
which is tinctured with profanity, or indelicacy, argues poverty 
of genius, inasmuch as they have both been considered, very 
properly, as the cheapest products of the mind. 

" He was an active and useful member of the great parties, 
which at different times divided his native state — he was a 
wkigy a republican, and a federalist , and he lived to see the 



58 BIOGRAPHY OF 

principles and wishes of each of those parties finally and 
universally successful. 

" His person was a little below the common size. His fea- 
tures were small, but extremely animated. His speech was 
quick, and all his motions seemed to partake of the unceasing 
activity and versatility of the powers of his mind. 

" It only remains to add to this account of Mr. Hopkinson, 
that the various causes which contributed to the establish- 
ment of the independence and federal government of the 
United States, will not be fully traced, unless much is ascribed 
to the irresistible influence of the ridicule which he poured 
forth, from time to time, upon the enemies of those great poli- 
tical events." 



When and where was Francis Hopkinson bom ? 

What is said about his father ? 

What discovery in electricity did he make ? 

At what school was Francis educated ? 

What profession did he choose ? 

What is the general character of his writings ? 

What part did he take in the revolution ? 

Was he useful to the cause, and how ? 

What connexion had he with the Declaration of Independence f 

What office did he hold under the general government? 

When did he die, and of what disease ? 

What is said of him by Dr. Rush ? 



Extracts from the Essays and Writings of Francis Hopkinson. 
THE OLD BACHELOR. 

" Oh that I had been made an oyster ! — that I had been 
stationed in the bottom of the sea — the winds might have 
blown and swelled the waves mountains high ; I should not 
have heeded them. Mankind might have satiated themselves 
with folly, iniquity, and deceit j it would not have troubled 
me. 

" Here some journeyman philosopher would interrupt me 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 59 

with a learned dissertation on sexes ; and prove, by a chain 
of irrefragable suppositions, that oysters are male and female. 
What's that to you, sir? Who asked your opinion? The 
deuce is in these coxcombs, that they cannot let a man go on 
in his own way, but they must be throwing straws across his 
path. 

" Oh that I had been an oyster ! — 'Tis true, I should not 
have known what are called the joys of life ; that is, I should 
not have eaten turtle-soup and venison till I nauseated both, 
nor have drunk Madeira till I loathed it. True, — neither 
should 1 be tormented with the treachery of servants, the 
hypocrisy of relations, or the insults and sarcasms of my fel- 
low oysters. 

" You should have heard from me before this, Mr. Aitken, 
but I have been sick, very sick, — almost at the point of death ; 
I caught cold by putting on a damp shirt. If I had been 
married, my wife, perhaps, would have taken care that my 
linen should have been well aired — perhaps not. Be this as 
it may, I caught cold, and was very sick. Nobody troubled 
their heads about me ; I lay helpless, languishing, and ne- 
glected, above ; my servants rioted and plundered below ; 
every thing ran into confusion. The common comforts of 
the sick were not administered to me ; I lay many hours 
alone, brooding over my own melancholy reflections. I 
thought I should die — I supposed myself dead — I saw my 
own funeral — not a single tear to embalm my memory. A 
few straggling neighbours attended the scanty procession, con- 
versing on politics, or the current news of the day, as they 
follow me to the grave. The day after the funeral, some per- 
son of the next street asks one of my near neighbours, ' Pray, 
how does the Old Bachelor ? I hear he is sick." ' Fie was 
sick, but he is well enough now — he was buried yesterday.' — 
' Dear me, I never heard of it — and how has the old curmud- 
geon left his estate?' 'To the Pennsylvania Hospital.' No 
more is said about me — they pass on to other chat. After 



60 BIOGRAPHY OF 

three days, I am no more thought of than if I had never ex- 
isted, except by the managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital. 
No widow to be visited and comforted for the loss of me — 
no children to keep ray name and memory alive in the world, 
and to talk of their dear father, some ten or a dozen years 
after my decease. No elegy, in verse or prose, to celebrate 
the virtues I never possessed, or palliate the faults 1 really had. 
Not even a paragraph in the newspaper to announce my de- 
parture." 



Extract from the translation of a letter written by a Foreigner 
on his Travels. 

" A manufacturer in England has been brought up a maker 
of pin-heads : He has been at this business forty years, and, 
of course, makes pin-heads with great dexterity ; but he can- 
not make a whole pin for his life. Pie thinks it is the perfec- 
tion of human nature to make pin-heads. He leaves other 
matters to inferior abilities. It is enough for him, that he 
believes in the Athanasian Creed, reverences the splendour 
of the court, and makes pin-heads. This he conceives to be 
the sum-total of religion, politics, and trade. He is sure that 
London is the finest city in the world : Blackfriars bridge the 
most superb of all possible bridges, and the river Thames the 
largest river in the universe. It is in vain to tell him that 
there are many rivers in America, in comparison of which 
the Thames is but a ditch ; that there are single provinces 
there, larger than all England ; and that the colonies, formerly 
belonging to Great Britain, now independent states, are vastly 
more extensive than England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 
taken all together. He cannot conceive this. He goes into 
his best parlour, and looks on a map of England, four feet 
square; on the other side of the room he sees a map of North 
and South America, not more than two feet square, and ex- 
claims — How can these things be ? It is altogether impossible ! 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 61 

He has read the Arabian Nights Entertainments, and he 
hears this wonderful account of America — he believes the one 
as much as the other — That a giant should rise out of the sea, 
or that the Delaware should be larger than the Thames, are 
equally incredible to him. Talk to him of the British consti- 
tution ; he will tell you it is a glorious constitution. Ask him 
what it is, and he is ignorant of its first principles ,- but he is 
sure that he can make and sell pin-heads under it. Mention 
the freedom of elections, and he will tell you he does not njcddle 
in these matters ; that he lives in a borough ; and that it is 
impossible but that squire Goose-Cap must represent that 
borough in parliament — because squire Goose-Cap is ac- 
quainted with the prime minister, and his lady comes every 
Sunday to the parish church in a brocaded gown ; and sits in 
a pew lined with green cloth. How then can it be otherwise ? 
— but these are things in which he is not concerned. He be- 
lieves in the Athanasian Creed, honours the king, and makes 
pin-heads — and what more can be expected of a man. 

" It is not so in America. The lowest tradesman there is 
not without some degree of general knowledge. They turn 
their hands to every thing ; their situation obliges them to do 
so. A farmer there cannot run to an artist upon every trifling 
occasion. He must make, and mend, and contrive for hitw- 
self. This I observed in my travels through that country. In 
many towns, and in every city, they have public libraries. 
Not a tradesman but will find time to read. He acquires 
knowledge imperceptibly. He is amused with voyag€S and 
travels, and becomes acquainted with the geography, cus- 
toms, and commerce of other countries. He reads political 
disquisitions, and learns the great outlines of his rights, as a 
man and as a citizen. He dips a little into philosophy, and 
knows that the apparent motion of the sun is occasioned by 
the real motion of the earth. In a word, he is sure, that, not- 
withstanding the determination of king, lords, and commons, 
to the contrary, two and two can never make jive.'*'' 
6 



62 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Extract. — Modern Learning, exemplified by a specimen of a 
Collegiate Examination. 

METAPHYSICS. 

Professor. " What is a Salt-Box 7 

Student. " It is a box made to contain salt. 

P. " How is it divided ? 

S. " Into a salt-box, and a box of salt. 

P. " Very well ! — show the distinction. 

S. "A salt-box may be where there is no salt; but salt is 
absolutely necessary to the existence of a box of salt. 

P. " Are not salt-boxes otherwise divided ? 

S. " Yes : by a partition. 

P. " What is the use of this partition 1 

S. " To separate the coarse salt from the fine. 

P. "How?— think a little. 

S. " To separate the fine salt from the coarse. 

P. "To be sure: — it is to separate the fine from the 
coarse : but are not salt-boxes yet otherwise distinguished ? 

S. " Yes : into possible, probable, and positive. 

P. " Define these several kinds of salt-boxes. 

S. "A possible salt-box is a salt-box yet unsold in the 
hands of the joiner. 

P. "Why so? 

S. " Because it hath never yet become a salt-box in fact, 
having never had any salt in it : and it may possibly be ap- 
plied to some other use. 

P. " Very true : for a salt-box which never had, hath not 
now, and perhaps never may have, any salt in it, can only 
be termed a possible salt-box. What is a probable salt-box? 

S. " It is a salt-box in the hand of one going to a shop to 
buy salt, and who hath six-pence in his pocket to pay the 
grocer : and a positive salt-box is one which hath actually 
and bona fide got salt in it. 

P. " Very good ; — but is there no instance of a positive 
salt-box which hath no salt in it? 



FRANCIS IIOPKINSON. 63 

S. " I know of none. * 

P. " Yes : there is one mentioned by some authors : it is 
where a box hath, by long use, been so impregnated with 
salt, that, although all the salt hath been long since emptied 
out, it may yet be called a salt-box, with the same propriety 
that we say a salt herring, salt beef, &c. And, in this sense, 
any box that may have accidentally, or otherwise, been long 
steeped in brine, may be termed positively a salt-box, although 
never designed for the purpose of keeping salt. But tell me, 
what other division of salt-boxes do you recollect ? 

S. " They are further divided into substantive and pendent : 
a substantive salt-box is that which stands by itself on the 
table or dresser ; and a pendent, is that which hangs upon a 
nail against the wall. 

P. " What is the idea of a salt-box ? 

S. " It is that image which the mind conceives of a salt- 
box, when no salt-box is present. 

P. " What is the abstract idea of a salt-box ? 

S. " It is the idea of a salt-box, abstracted from the idea 
of a box, or of salt, or of a salt-box, or of a box of salt. 

P. " Very right : — and by these means you acquire a most 
perfect knowledge of a salt-box ; but tell me, is the idea of a 
salt-box, a salt idea ? 

S. " Not unless the ideal box hath ideal salt in it. 

P. " True : — and therefore an abstract idea cannot be 
either salt or fresh ; round or square ; long or short ,* for a 
true abstract idea must be entirely free of all adjuncts. And 
this shows the difference between a salt idea and an idea of 
salt. Is an aptitude to hold salt an essential or an accidental 
property of a salt-box ? 

S. " It is essential ; but if there should be a crack in the 
bottom of the box, the aptitude to spill salt would be termed 
an accidental property of that salt-box. 

P. " Very well ! very well indeed ! — What is the salt called 
with respect to the box ? 



64 BIOGRAPHY OF 

S. " It is called its contents. 

P. « And why so ? 

S. " Because the cook is content quoad hoc to find plenty 
of salt in the box. 

P. " You are very right — I see you have not misspent your 
time." 



SOUNDS. 

" Sounds have a delightful effect upon the human mind ; 
especially articulated sounds : and the effect is still more cer- 
tain, when they have either no meaning at all, or the meaning 
is not understood. 

" An ignorant woman, weeping aloud under the influence 
of a powerful preacher, was asked the cause of her lamenta- 
tion : Oh, sir ! said she, don't you hear those charming 
words, Mesopotamia^ Pamphylia^ and Phrygia ? And I 
knew a lady during the late war, who did not possess one 
political principle, or had any precise idea of the real caus6 
of contest between Great Britain and America, and yet was 
a professed and confirmed fory : merely from the fascination 
of sounds. The imperial croivn, the royal robes, the high 
court of parliament, the lord chancellor of England, and so 
on, were words of irresistible influence. Whilst Captain A., 
the taylor; Col. B., the tavern-keeper; and even General 
Washington, the farmer, only created contempt. But I am 
persuaded, if some Indian chief, with a long Cherokee or 
Mohawk name, had commanded our armies, she would have 
thought much more respectfully of the American cause. 

" This being truth, and a truth founded in nature, will any 
one pretend to say, that the Greek and Latin languages are 
of no use? What! shall we call things by downright vulgar 
English names ? Shall not the physician have his paregorics 
and antispasmodics; his lenat Ives and sedatives; his an^i- 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 65 

phlogistics, cathartics and diuretics ? Shall not the lawyer 
have his Jieri facias, his scire facias, and certiorares? Or 
the divine his latitudinarians, inillenarians, sublapsarians, 
and supralapsarians ? Shall the chemist give up his hard 
words, and the botanist his technical terms, in the knowledge 
of which, his whole science consists? Deplorable will be the 
state of erudition when this shall be the case. Knowledge, 
indeed, might increase and become more universally diffused ; 
but learning would be no more. We might then say, such 
a man is a man of genius, of wisdom, of understanding; but 
where should we find the man of profound erudition : one 
who would spurn at the simplicity of nature's works, and 
plunge in system, deeper than common sense could even 
fathom?" 



Extract of a description of a College Commencement. 

" Pray, did you mark the learned dissertation, 
To prove that all the wonders of creation 
Are only visions of imagination ? 
That what we see and feel, and substance call. 
Is nature's sleight of hand — deception all. 
No matter whether things exist or no, 
'Tis quite sufficient if we think they do. 
Alas, for pity ! that yon beauteous maid 
Should only be the shadow of a shade : 
Her glowmg cheek ; her lips of deeper dye, 
Her panting bosom, and her sparkling eye 
Are all delusions ; so we have been taught, 
Existing only in her lover's thought. 

*' Why should that phantom of an amorous swain. 
Sigh to the fair imaginary pain? 
Since all his fancied joys would only prove, 
Ideal raptures of ideal love. 



66 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Oh, rare philosophy ! Oh ! skill divine ! 

Pray, ladies, is not this extremely fine ? 

To such high learning none can make pretence, 

But those who scorn the bounds of common sense. 

Stretch wide the wings of seeming demonstration, 

And soar in regions of their own creation." 



Extract from a Letter on Whitewashing. 

*' When a young couple are about to enter on the matrimo- 
nial state, a never- failing article in the marriage treaty is, that 
the lixdy shall have and enjoy the free and unmolested exer- 
cise of the rights of whitewashings with all its ceremonials, 
privileges and appurtenances. You will wonder what this 
privilege of whitewashing is. I will endeavour to give you an 
idea of the ceremony, as I have seen it performed. 

" There is no season of the year in which the lady may 
not, if she pleases, claim her privilege ; but the latter end of 
May is generally fixed upon for the purpose. The attentive 
husband may judge, by certain prognostics, when the storm 
is nigh at hand. If the lady grows uncommonly fretful, finds 
fault with the servants, is discontented with the children, and 
complains much of the confusion of every thing about her : 
these are symptoms which ought not to be neglected, yet they 
sometimes go off without any further effect. But if, when the 
husband rises in the morning, he should observe in the yard 
a wheelbarrow, with a quantity of lime in it, or should see 
certain buckets filled with a solution of lime in water, there is 
no time for hesitation. He immediately locks up the apart- 
ment or closet, where his papers and private property are kept, 
and putting the key in his pocket, betakes himself to flight. 
A husband, however beloved, becomes a perfect nuisance dur- 
ing this season of female rage. His authority is superseded, 
his commission suspended, and the very scullion who cleans 
the brasses in the kitchen, becomes of more importance than 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 67 

he. He has nothing for it but to abdicate, for a time, and 
run from an evil which he can neither prevent nor mollify. 

" The husband gone, the ceremony begins. The walls are 
stripped of their furniture — paintings, prints, and looking- 
glasses lie in huddled heaps about the floors ; the curtains are 
torn from their testers, the beds crammed into windows ; chairs 
and tables, bedsteads and cradles, crowd the yard ; and the 
garden fence bends beneath the weight of carpets, blankets, 
cloth cloaks, old coats, under-petticoats and ragged breeches. 
Here may be seen the lumber of the kitchen, forming a dark 
and confused mass for the foreground of the picture ; gridiron^ 
and frying pans, rusty shovels and broken tongs, joint stools, 
and the fractured remains of rush-bottomed chairs. There a 
closet has disgorged its bowels — riveted plates and dishes, 
halves of china bowls, cracked tumblers, broken wine-glasses, 
phials of forgotten physic, papers of unknown powders, seeds! 
and dried herbs, tops of tea-pots, and stoppers of departed de- 
canters — from the rag-hole in the garret, to the rat-hole in the 
cellar, no place escapes unrummaged. It would seem as if 
the day of general doom was come, and the utensils of the 
house were dragged forth to judgment. In this tempest, the 
words of king Lear unavoidably present themselves, and might, 
with little alteration, be made strictly applicable. 

" ' Let the great gods, 

That keep this dreadful pudder o'er our heads, 
Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch, 
That hast within thee undivulged crimes 
Unwhipt of justice . 



Close pent up guilt. 

Rive your concealing continents, and ask 
These dreadful summoners grace.' 

"This ceremony completed, and the house thoroughly 
evacuated, the next operation is to smear the walls an<J ceil- 



68 BIOGRAPHY OF 

ings with brushes, clipped in a solution of lime, called white' 
wash ; to pour buckets of water over every floor, and scratch 
all the partitions and wainscots with hard brushes, charged 
with soft soap and stone-cutter's sand. 

" The windows by no means escape the general deluge. 
A servant scrambles out upon the penthouse, at the risk of 
her neck, and with a mug in her hand, and a bucket within 
reach, dashes innumerable gallons of water against the glass 
panes, to the great annoyance of passengers in the street. 

" It matters not how many useful, ornamental, or valuable 
articles suffer mutilation or death under the operation. A 
mahogany chair and a carved frame undergo the same disci- 
pline : they are to be made clean at all events, but their pre- 
.servation is not worthy of attention. For instance : a fine 
large engraving is laid flat upon the floor; a number of 
smaller prints are piled upon it, until the superincumbent 
weight cracks the lower glass — but this is of no importance. 
A valuable picture is placed leaning against the sharp corner 
of a table: others are made to lean against that, till the pres- 
sure of the whole forces the corner of the table through the 
canvass of the first. The frame and glass of a fine print are 
to be cleaned ; the spirit and oil used on this occasion are suf- 
fered to leak through and deface the engraving — no matter ! 
If the glass is clean and the frame shines, it is sufficient — the 
rest is not worthy of consideration," 



Extracts from " II Penseroso. 

IL PENSEROSO. 

" Vanish mirth and vanish joy, 
Airy pleasures quickly cloy ; 
Hence all ye bacchanalian rout, 
And wine, and jest, and noisy shout ; 



FRANCIS HOPKINSON. 09 

And quips, and cranks, and gay grimace, 
And wit, that wears a double face. 
Hence ev'ry kind of jollity. 
For you have no delights for me. 
But welcome, welcome melancholy, 
Thou goddess sage, demure and holy ! 
Exalt thy ever musing head. 
And quit, oh ! quit, thy sleepless bed ! 
With languid looks, and anxious eyes, 
Divinest melancholy rise ! 

" Or let me, in some crazy boat, 
Along the wat'ry surface float ; 
Leaning pensive o'er its side, 
Let me view the rippling tide ; 
Whilst Cynthia's cold declining rays, 
Who now but half her orb displays, 
On the clean bosom of the deep, 
In mild composure seems to sleep. 

" Here, retir'd from noise and folly. 
Sober visag'd melancholy ! 
On a rustling rushy bed. 
With thee I'll lean the languid head ; 
And in the dimpled tide descry 
The gath'ring horrors of the sky ; 
See the stars dancing as they go, 
And view the other heav'n below : 
Whilst from behind the bull- rush near, 
The frog's hoarse-cadenc'd voice I hear ; 
Whose oft-repeated hollow sound, 
A pleasing sadness spreads around. 
But hark I rude rustling thro' the trees, 
A sudden unexpected breeze. 
Swift bursting from the darksome wood. 
Shakes the smooth surface of the flood ; 



70 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Then slow I raise my downcast eye, 

To gaze the drear presageful sky, 

Where clouds high heap'd, and swimming low, 

Hang heavy on night's awful brow. 

Around a gloomy silence reigns, 

Hush'd is each throat thro' hills and plains : 

The stars but now that shone so bright. 

Slide swift, and vanish out of sight. 

The rapid storm comes on apace. 

The heav'ns wear one distracted face ; 

And ruder blasts unbounded rove 

In sullen murmurs thro' the grove — 

Down yonder dreadful depth of sky. 

In ragged sheets the lightnings fly ; 

Peals following peals hiss through the air, 

And burst in awful ruin near : 

Descending quick, the heavy floods 

Dance on the stream, and rattle in the woods." 



SONG. 

" The traveller benighted and lost. 

O'er the mountains pursues his lone way; 

The stream is all candied with frost. 

And the icicle hangs on the spray. 
He wanders in hope some kind shelter to find, 
* Whilst thro' the sharp hawthorn keen blows the cold wind. 

" The tempest howls dreary around. 

And rends the tall oak in its flight ; 

Fast falls the cold snow on the ground. 

And dark is the gloom of the night. 
Lone wanders the trav'ler a shelter to find, 
*■ Whilst thro' the sharp hawthorn still blows the cold wind.' 



THOMAS GODFREY, JR. 71 

" No comfort the wild woods afford, 

No shelter the trav'ler can see — 

Far off are his bed and his board 

And his home, where he wishes to be. 
His hearth's cheerful blaze still engages his mind, 
* Whilst thro' the sharp hawthorn keen blows the cold wind.' " 



THOMAS GODFREY, JR. 

Born A. D. MDCCXXXVI — Died A. D. MDCCLXIII. 

The father of this poet and dramatist, was the original and 
real inventor of the sea-quadrant, referred to in a previous 
article. Of the exact time of his birth, there is no record ; 
but his biographer, and intimate friend, the Rev. N. Evans, 
in an account prefixed to his volume of poems, states, that he 
was born in the year 1736, in the city of Philadelphia, and, 
that at an early age he was made an orphan, by the death of 
his ingenious, though neglected parent. On this melancholy 
event, he was placed among his relations, and received from 
them the rudiments of an English education. He was after- 
wards apprenticed to a watch-maker ; but it appears that he 
never was pleased with the pursuit selected for him, by those 
who had the control of his early life. 

His taste for poetry displayed itself in youth ; and the pro- 
ductions of his muse were communicated to the world through 
the pages of the American Magazine, edited by the Rev. Dr. 
Smith. The benevolent feelings of this excellent man, 
prompted him to extend his favourable regards to one, who 
had thus exhibited no inconsiderable talent in an art, which 
himself admired, and could properly appreciate. He en- 
couraged Godfrey to cultivate his abilities, and not only sup- 



72 BIOGRAPHY OF 

plied him with much valuable information, but also introduced 
him to the society of a number of his students, already en- 
deared to him by their excellent dispositions and accomplish- 
ments. 

Among these were Francis Hopkinson, Benjamin West, 
afterwards President of the Royal Society of Painters, and 
Jacob Duche, who subsequently became a clergyman, and 
officiated as Rector of St. Peter's Church, in Philadelphia. 
With West our poet formed a close intimacy, which ripened 
into a strong and mutual friendship. Like this illustrious 
artist, Godfrey had early shown a taste for painting ; but was 
dissuaded from pursuing it as a profession, by his relatives. 
Whether it was from a congeniality of feeling towards the 
art which West had determined to pursue throughout his life, 
or a similarity of temper and disposition, the young painter 
appears to have been the favourite with our subject. It is re- 
lated by Gait, in his life of the above distinguished artist, that 
Godfrey would frequently compose his verses under a clump 
of pines, which grew near the upper ferry of the Schuylkilli, 
to which spot he sometimes accompanied West, and their 
mutual friends, to angle. In the heat of the day he used to 
stretch himself beneath the shade of the trees, and repeat to 
them the verses as he composed them. 

Through the exertions of the Rev. Dr. Smith, our poet 
received a lieutenancy in the Pennsylvania line, destined for 
an expedition against fort Du Quesne, now Pittsburg. He 
continued with the army to the end of the campaign; and, 
amid the toils and privations of a border contest, he found 
seasons for engaging in his favourite pursuit. It was when 
garrisoned in Fort Henry, that he wrote a poetic epistle, in 
which he describes the horrors of savage warfare ; the mise- 
ries of the frontier inhabitants, and the dreadful carnage of 
Indian massacres. The description, although agonizing, is 
given with poetic force j and is valuable for being the first 



THOMAS GODFREY, JR. 73 

production of the kind published in a America, on a subject 
so painfully interesting. 

A short time subsequent to the termination of his military 
engagements, he was induced to accept, a commission as a 
mercantile agent, and went to North Carolina. During his 
residence there, \ie composed a tragedy, entitled " The Prince 
of Parthia." This drama, which, in many portions, is indi- 
cative of no little genius in that department of literature, is not 
calculated for representation on the stage, being deficient in 
scenic effect. It, however, possesses much merit, and has the 
honour of being the first tragedy written and published in our 
country. 

Godfrey, on the death of his employer, returned to Phila- 
delphia, and, having continued there for some time, was in- 
duced to sail as supercargo to the island of New Providence. 
Having completed his commissions, he revisited North Caro- 
lina, v/here, soon after his arrival, he was seized by a violent 
malignant fever, and in a few days was summoned to pay the 
debt of nature. He died on the 3d of August, 1763, and in 
the twenty-seventh year of his age. 

*' Thus hastily was snatched off," observes his biographer 
and friend, " in the prime of manhood, this very promising 
genius, beloved and lamented by all who knew him I The 
effusions of his muse flowed with a noble wildness from his 
elevated soul. Free and unpremeditated he sung ; unskilled 
in any precepts but what were infused into him by nature, his 
divine tutoress. But whatever desert he may be allowed as 
a poet, it will be rendered still more conspicuous by his cha- 
racter as a man. His sweet and amiable disposition, his in- 
tegrity of heart, his engaging modesty and diffidence of man- 
ners, his fervent and disinterested love for his friends, endeared 
him to all those who shared his acquaintance; and have 
stamped the image of him, in indelible characters, on the 
hearts of his more intimate friends." 

His productions were collected, and published in 1765, by 

- 7 



71 BIOGRAPHY OF 

his affectionate friend and ardent admirer, the reverend gen- 
tleman before mentioned. They comprise a volume of 223 
quarto pages, and consist of poems on various subjects, with 
the tragedy already referred to. Among his productions there 
are to be found examples of poetical imagination which are 
of a very high order and merit ; and it is impossible to read 
his contributions, without regret, that it was his misfortune to 
want the advantages of a finished education ; and that one of 
such fair promise should, in the morning of his life, have been 
called to the narrow house of silence and deaJh 1 



When was Thomas Godfrey, Jr. bom I 
Who is his biographer ? 
Who patronized him ? 

What station did he hold in the American army ? 
Whither, after having left the army, did he go? 
What is said concerning the drama that he wrote ? 
What was his next engagement in business ? 
Where did he die, and when ? 



Extracts from his poem, " The Court of Fancy." 

** Here Fancy^s fane, near to the blest abode 
Of all her kindred gods, superior stood. 
Dome upon dome it sparkled from on high, 
Its lofty top lost in the azure sky. 
By Fictiofi^s hand th' amazing pile was rear'd, 
In every part stupendous skill appear'd ; 
In beautiful disorder yet complete, 
The structure shone irregular and great : 
The noble frontispiece of antique mould 
Glitter'd with gems, and blazed with burnish'd gold, 

" High in the midst, rais'd on her rolling throne, 
Sublimely eminent, bright Fakcy shone. 
A glitt'ring tiara her temples bound, 
Rich set with sparkling rubies all around ; 



THOMAS GODFREY, JR. 75 

Her azure eyes roll'd with majestic grace, 

And youth eternal bloom'd upon her face ; 

A radiant bough, ensign of her command, 

Of polish'd gold, wav'd in her lily hanti ; 

The same the Sibyl to JEneas gave, 

When the bold Trojan cross'd the Stygian wave. 

In silver traces, fix'd unto her car. 

Four snowy Swans, proud of th' imperial fair, 

Wing'd lightly on, each in gay beauty drest, 

Smooth'd the soft plumage that adorn'd her breast. 

Sacred to her, the lucent chariot drew, 

Or whether wildly thro' the air she flew. 

Or whether to the dreary shades of night, 

Oppress'd with gloom she downwards bent her flight, 

Or proud aspiring sought the blest abodes. 

And boldly shot among th' assembled Gods. 

** On her ri^^ht hand appeared the joyfyl Nine, 
And on her left the graces all divine; 
Young infant Love, soft on her breast reclin'd, 
And with his mother's glowing beauty shin'd. 
Her fav'rite sons were rang'd in order round. 
In three bright bands with deathless laurels crown'd ; 
Great Homer here enj(w'd superior day, 
Illuminated by bright fancy's ray ; 
Apellcs there, whose magic hand could give 
Form to the mass, and bid the fiction live ; 
Timotheus next, whose animated lyre 
Cold grief could charm, and thoughtless rage inspire. 

" Close at her feet, a bard, in raptures lost, 
Was plac'd, and wildly round his eye-bails tost; 
Great fancy was the theme ! the soothing strain 
In floods of pleasure thrill'd thro' every vein. 
Thus, while the trembling notes ascend on high 
He sung ; Indulgent queen of ev'ry joy, 



76 BIOGRAPHY OF 

What rapture fills the breast thou dost inspire, 

The lover's transport, and the poet's fire ! 

At thy command obedient Pleasure bends, 

And rosy Beauty to thy call attends ; 

The fanning gales shall swelling spread thy fame. 

And echoing groves vvell-pleas'd resound thy name ! 

" Then Painting forward mov'd, in garlands drest. 
The rainbow's varied tints adorn'd her vest. 

Great Nature's rival ! quick to her command 

Beauty attends, and aids her pow'rful hand. 
At her creative touch gay fictions glow. 
Bright tulips bloom, and op'ning roses blow. 
The canvass see, what pleasing prospects rise ! 
What varying beauty strikes our wond'ring eyes ! 
Chill'd winter's wastes, or spring's delightful green, 
Hot summer's pride, or autumn's yellow scene ; 
Here lawns are spread, there tow'ring forests wave, 
The heights we fear, or wish the cooling lave ! 

" Astronomy^ with proud aspiring eye. 
Gazed on the glowing beauties of the sky. 
Her vest with glitt'ring stars was spangled o'er, 
And in her hand a telescope she bore. 
With this she mark'd the rolling planets' way. 
Or where portentous comets dreadful stray. 

" False Honour here I saw all gaily drest. 
Glass were her beads, and tinsel'd was her vest ; 
Form'd in barbaric ages, rude her mien. 
And in her hand the sanguin'd sword was seen. 
Not stain'd like patriots', in their country's cause, 
To save religion or support the laws ; 
In private strife the crimson torrents flow. 
Their country wounded by each fatal blow ! 



BENJAMIN RUSH. 77 

*< As thus I onward moved with wand'ring pace, 
And view'd the various wonders of the place ; 
Just heav'n, I cry'd, Oh ! give me to restrain 
Imagination with a steady rein ! 
Tho' ofl she leads thro' pleasure's flow'ry <vays, 
In error's thorny path she sometimes strays. 
Let me my hours with sohd judgment spend, 
Nor to delusion's airy dreams attend ; 
By reason guided, we shall only know 
Those heav'nly joys which fancy can bestow !'* 



BENJAMIN RUSH. 

Born A. D. MDCCXLV — Died A. D. MDCCCXIII. 

The name of Rush, is not only illustrious in the world of 
science, but is intimately associated with the most signal 
events in the early history of his country. It is a name 
which we should delight to honour ; for the purity of his pri- 
vate life, the integrity of his patriotism, his benevolence of 
character, and the merited distinction which he reached, both 
in his professional pursuits, and in philosophical and literary 
acquisitions, have secured for his memory, an almost religious 
adoration. Seldom is the privilege enjoyed by the biogra- 
pher to pourtray an individual of more excellence in the 
qualities of mind and heart ; and never more justly would 
eulogy be pronounced upon one, who was revered by his 
contemporaries, and whose fame will extend, with its en- 
during associations of esteem and love, to the latest genera- 
tions. 

The renown that is based upon the virtues, which are es- 
sentially the foundation of Rush's eminence, is truly enviable. 
7* 



78 BIOGRAPHY OF 

It cannot be diminished, so long as those virtues have our 
homage; but, on the contrary, the more rigidly it is can- 
vassed, the more resplendent will it appear, and the more 
freely will the offering of our hearts be bestowed. The struc- 
ture of his exalted reputation is composed of such materials, 
that there is in them, no inherent principle of decay ; and the 
perfect symmetry and harmony of its parts, afford no occa- 
sion for regret that any portion is incongruous, or that any 
defect exists to mar its beauty. 

The important aid which his country derived from his great 
abilities, and which a pure and patriotic spirit prompted him 
to afford, in a season when it was most needed, would, of 
itself, command a sincere and full tribute of reverential esteem. 
The claims which that country presented were, in his view, 
of too great magnitude to be disregarded ; and the cloister of 
science, was often left, for the thronged halls of legislation, 
there to discuss that solemn measure, upon which was made 
to rest the destiny of a vast empire. To the memorable act 
of declaring the American colonies independent of Great 
Britain, he boldly lent his influence and talents ; and the im- 
perishable honour of affixing his signature to the instrument 
of freedom, was enjoyed by him, as a delegate to the revolu- 
tionary congress. 

In the science to which he devoted his chief attention, his 
distinguished rank is conceded by both Europeans and Ameri- 
cans to have been most justly conferred. He was an orna- 
ment to his profession ; for he brought to it a mind not more 
thoroughly imbued with its received theories, than a sound 
and discriminating observation as to the results of their appli- 
cation. His admirable skill as a practitioner, was only equal- 
led by the boldness with which he approached the disease that 
he was called to conquer : and if no striking discoveries are to 
be attributed to him, yet the healing art has, since his day, 
been stripped of much of the ambiguity which before obscured 



BENJAMIN RUSH. 79 

it ; whilst its established maxims have been confirmed by their 
minutest results, recorded through an extensive practice. 

In reference to his qualities of heart, it can truly be said, 
that they were of the highest order ; and that their exercise, 
throughout a long life, was the best comment upon the virtue 
of practical benevolence. It would seem that an abiding sen- 
timent, that he was placed upon earth to do good, was ever 
active in his breast. Even occasions were sought by him for 
exhibiting this splendid attribute of the human soul ; and their 
frequency never wearied him. In those awful seasons of 
desolating pestilence, when death rioted in wide-spread destruc- 
tion, and held his carnival in the midst of his untold victims, 
Dr. Rush, in intrepid courage, braved the mighty conqueror, 
and bore to the humble sufferer on some wretched pallet, the 
relief which he needed. Numerous instances are on record, 
in which his benevolent and charitable feelings displayed them- 
selves to an extent endangering his valuable life ; and perhaps 
no greater eulogy can be pronounced upon this eminent indi- 
vidual, than that which multitudes daily uttered, when, in the 
sacred gratitude of their hearts, they conferred upon him the 
title of the "poor man's physician." — For such an enviable 
honour, who would not toil with more than human struggles ! 
For such an inheritance, bequeathed through a parent's vir- 
tues, where are the descendants that would not record it as 
the richest and most splendid legacy ! 

Benjamin Rush was born on the 24th of December, 1745, 
on the paternal estate, in Byberry township, about twelve miles 
from the city of Philadelphia. The first of his family that 
emigrated from England to America, was Captain John Rush, 
who had commanded a troop of horse in the forces of Oliver 
Cromwell, and had acquitted himself with the full approbation 
of the Protector. The father of young Benjamin having died 
before his son had attained his sixth year, his education de- 
volved upon his mother ; who was a lady of excellent qualities 
of mind, and of exalted views of moral and religious obligation. 



80 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Soon after her widowhood, she removed to the city of Phila» 
delphia ; and having supplied him with the requisite elementary 
instruction, she placed the youthful subject of our memoir with 
her brother, the Rev. Dr. Finley, at that time the principal of 
an academy in Nottingham, Maryland. To the parental in- 
terest of this excellent man, who afterwards became the presi- 
dent of the College in Princeton, our young philosopher owed 
not only the great and rapid improvement of his mind, but 
likewise the implantation of those sterling moral virtues which 
adorned the whole course of his after life. 

At the age of fourteen he was removed to Princeton College, 
then directed by President Davies, a divine not more eminent 
for his piety, than for an eloquence of the highest order. That 
our student was possessed of uncommon abilities, and that they 
were most conscientiously cultivated, the fact of his having 
received the first honours of that venerable seat of learning, 
at the age of sixteen, is a striking evidence. On the comple- 
tion of his college course, he abandoned the idea of qualifying 
himself for the bar, to which his early inclinations had led 
him, and commenced his studies in medicine under Dr. John 
Redman, a distinguished practitioner in the city of Philadel- 
phia. During this period of preparation, he was remarkable 
for his close application, and for the avidity with which he 
sought every source of information. He also, about this time, 
commenced recording regularly in a diary, memoranda of 
facts which occurred, as well as the more distinctive results 
of the practical principles of his profession. To this custom, 
pursued by him with the greatest faithfulness and persever- 
ance, may be attributed much of the systematic character of 
his mind, as well as the benefits, which the world has enjoyed, 
from the minute observations of a sound and investigating 
judgment. 

Although his attainments were of no common extent, yet 
his ardour in the pursuit of professional knowledge urged him 
to visit Europe, in order to qualify himself still further for the 



BENJAMIN RUSH. 81 

responsible office to which he aspired. Accordingly, in the 
year 1766, he repaired to the medical school in Edinburgh, 
at that time among the most renowned of the transatlantic 
institutions. The preparatory term was spent by him in close 
application to his studies, and in a rigid attendance upon the 
lectures of the eminent faculty. With the special vote of the 
professors, he was presented with the honours of the school ; 
the more freely conferred, from the evidences which his The- 
sis, written in pure, classic Latin, afforded, that they were 
deservedly merited. 

The succeeding winter was spent in an attendance upon the 
hospitals, and such other institutions in London, as might af- 
ford his inquiring mind every opportunity for improvement. 
He also visited Paris, with the view of acquiring the informa- 
tion which the medical schools in that metropolis might yield. 

In 1769 he returned to Philadelphia, qualified, in a degree 
to which few have ever attained, for entering upon the ardu- 
ous, though not less responsible duties of his profession. In 
a short time, his superior talents, the amiability of his man- 
ners, and the facility of his address in winning the confidence 
of his patients, obtained for him a most extensive practice. 

The year 1793, is memorable for the ravages caused by 
the pestilence in Philadelphia, and which raged with a vio- 
lence only equalled by the plague which once desolated Lon- 
don. It commenced in the month of July, and continued in 
terrific violence for upwards of three months. The number 
of victims who fell a sacrifice to the wide-spread destruction, 
in a city of sixty thousand inhabitants, exceeded five thousand ; 
and the misery which it caused can hardly be imagined by 
the gloomiest and most morbid fancy. Everywhere were seen 
the traces of its horrors ; whilst no sound interrupted the awful 
stillness of the once thronged city, but the rumbling wheels 
of the hearse, or the vehicle of the physician. All was deso- 
lation ; and all told of the vast triumphs of death ; the wide- 
spread dominion of the relentless conqueror ! 



82 BIOGRAPHY OF 

In this dreadful emergency, Dr. Rush displayed a magna- 
nimous conduct which has seldom been equalled, and which 
entitles him to the imperishable gratitude and reverence of 
mankind. With an entire disregard of personal safety, and 
influenced by the noblest sympathies of our nature, he unre- 
mittingly attended to his professional labours, with a zeal and 
devotion which are truly astonishing. His established reputa- 
tion, and the great benevolence of his character, caused him 
to be sought by almost the whole mass of wretched sufferers. 
At one time the number of his patients exceeded one hundred 
per day ; and the arduous, mournful duty, of attending and 
prescribing, was only partially lessened by his pupils, resident 
at the time in his family. Of the extent of his practice, an 
idea may be had from the fact, that his house was constantly 
filled with suppliants for his advice and attention ; and often 
throngs would besiege his door, waiting for his approach, that 
they might tell the sad tale of domestic affliction. Indeed, so 
great was the demand for his advice and attendance, that the 
doctor, in riding through the streets, was compelled to drive 
with a speed which might prevent an interruption from the 
pathetic entreaties of those who were inclined to stop him in 
his visits of mercy and relief. 

Labours of such an extent, and thus faithfully performed, 
for the good of others, at length were succeeded by a violent 
attack of the fatal disease; and at one time, the life of our 
amiable and benevolent physician was despaired of. He, 
however, was restored to suffering humanity ; and imme- 
diately after his return to health, was again engaged with un- 
abated zeal in his professional duties. From these, nothing 
could abstract him ; for when entreated by his family and 
friends to leave the city of desolation and death, he nobly re- 
plied, " that he thought it his duty to sacrifice, not only his 
pleasure and repose, but his life, should it be necessary, for the 
safety of his patients." Let this truly magnanimous devotion 
be recorded in the hearts of those who can appreciate such an 



BENJAMIN RUSH. 83 

instance of sublime courage ; and let it beget the inquiry, how 
much more exalted is its character than that of the stern qua- 
Hty possessed by the destroyer of his species. 

In addition to his character as a successful practitioner. 
Dr. Rush was equally distinguished as a professor in medi- 
cine. In this department, he was eminently known and va- 
lued ; and much of the reputation enjoyed by the Medical 
School of the University of Pennsylvania, was conferred upon 
her, through the splendid abilities of our subject. On the first 
establishment of the College of Philadelphia, he was appointed 
professor of chemistry, and subsequently occupied the chairs 
of the theory and practice of medicine, and of the institutes 
of medicine, and chemical practice in the University. 

As a writer. Dr. Rush was likewise favourably known, 
and his published works, which amount to seven volumes, and 
chiefly treat of the science of which he was an ornament, evi- 
dence that the powers of his mind were of the highest order. 
His essays upon morals and literature, bear with them the 
impress of purity of thought, integrity of judgment, and all 
the benevolence of his mild and amiable character. 

This excellent and distinguished man died on the 19th of 
April, 1813, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. The disease 
which deprived the world of a benefactor and ornament, was, 
at that time, epidemic in the city of Philadelphia, and was 
termed the typhus or spotted fever. For days before his death, 
his house was surrounded by multitudes of inquiring friends, 
anxious to hear some favourable report of one, who was so 
much honoured and revered by all. When the mournful 
event was announced, a general gloom pervaded the whole 
community ; and the last sad ofhces of respect and love to 
the illustrious dead, were paid by the whole city, in profound 
grief and affection for his memory. 



In the American revolution what station did Dr. Rush hold ? 
What qualities of heart did he exhibit as a practising physician? 
When and where was tie born ? 



84 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Who and what was his father in Europe ? 

At what college did Rush receive his education ? 

Under whom did he pursue his professional studies? 

In what year did he visit Europe, and for what purpose ? 

When did he return ? 

What is the year 1793 memorable for? 

What did Dr. Rush do in this distressing period, to alleviate the great misery ? 

What stations did he hold in the university ? 

What is said of him as a writer ? 

When did he die ? 



The following interesting account of the first-born of Fennsylvania, is 
extracted from Rush's Essays. 

EDWARD DRINKER. 

An Account of the Life and Death of Edward DrinJcer, who died on 
the 11th of November, 1782, in the 102d year of his age. 

Edward Drinker was born on the 24th of December, 
1680, in a small cabin, near the present corner of Walnut 
and Second streets, in the city of Philadelphia. His parents 
came from a place called Beverly, in the state of Massachu- 
setts. The banks of the Delaware, on which the city of Phi- 
ladelphia now stands, were inhabited, at the time of his birth, 
by Indians, and a few Swedes and Hollanders. He often 
talked to his companions of picking whortleberries and catch- 
ing rabbits, on spots now the most improved and populous 
in the city. He recollected the second time William Penn 
came to Pennsylvania, and used to point to the place where 
the cabin stood, in which he and his friends that accompanied 
him, were accommodated upon their arrival. At twelve 
years of age, he went to Boston, where he served his appren- 
ticeship to a cabinet-maker. In the year 1745, he returned 
to Philadelphia, with his family, where he lived until the time 
of his death. He was four times married, and had eighteen 
children, all of whom were by his first wife. At one time of 
his life, he sat down at his own table, with fourteen children. 
Not long before his death, he heard of the birth of a grand- 



BENJAMIN RUSH. S5 

child, to one of his grandchildren, the fifth in succession to 
himself. 

He retained all his faculties till the last year of his life. 
Even his memory, so early and so generally diminished by 
age, was but little impaired. He not only remembered the 
incidents of his childhood and youth, but the events of latter 
years ; and so faithful was his memoiy to him, that his son 
has informed me he never heard him tell the same story 
twice, but to different persons, and in different companies. 
His eye-sight failed him many years before his death, but his 
hearing was uniformly perfect and unimpaired. His appetite 
was good till within a few days before his death. He gene- 
rally ate a hearty breakfast of a pint of tea or coffee, as sooft 
as he got out of his bed, with bread and butter in proportion. 
He ate likewise at eleven o'clock, and never failed to eat 
plentifully at dinner, of the grossest, solid food. He drank 
tea in the evening, but never ate any supper ; he had lost all 
his teeth thirty years before his death, which was occasioned, 
his son says, by drawing excessively hot smoke of tobacco into 
his mouth : but the want of suitable mastication of his food, 
did not prevent its speedy digestion, nor impair his health. 
Whether the gums, hardened by age, supplied the place of 
his teeth in a certain degree, or whether the juices of the 
mouth and stomach became so much more acrid by time, as 
to perform the oflice of dissolving the food more speedily and 
more perfectly, I know not; but I have often observed, that 
old people are most disposed to excessive eating, and that they 
suffer fewest inconveniences from it. He was inquisitive after 
news, in the last years of his life. His education did not lead 
him to increase the stock of his ideas any other way. But it 
is a fact well worth attending to, that old age, instead of dimi- 
nishing, always increases the desire of knowledge. It must 
afford some consolation to those who expect to be old, to dis- 
cover, that the infirmities to which the decays of nature 
expose the human body, are rendered more tolerable by the 
8 



86 BIOGRAPHY OF 

enjoyments that are to be derived from the appetite for sensual 
and intellectual food. 

He was remarkably sober and temperate. Neither hard 
labour, nor company, nor the usual afflictions of human life, 
nor the wastes of nature, ever led him to an improper or ex- 
cessive use of strong drink. 

He enjoyed an uncommon share of health, insomuch, that 
in the course of his long life, he never was confined more than 
three days to his bed. He often declared that he had no idea 
of that most distressing pain, called the headache. His sleep 
was interrupted a little in the last years of his life, with a de- 
fluxion on his breast, which produced what is commonly called 
the old man's cough. 

The character of this aged citizen was not summed up in 
his negative quality of temperance ; he was a man of the most 
amiable temper : old age had not curdled his blood ; he was 
uniformly cheerful and kind to every body ; his religious prin- 
ciples were as steady as his morals were pure. He attended 
public worship about thirty years, in the Rev. Dr. Sproat's 
church, and died in a full assurance of a happy immortality. 
The life of this man is marked with several circumstances, 
which perhaps have seldom occurred in the life of an indi- 
vidual. He saw and heard more of those events which are 
measured by time, than have ever been seen or heard by any 
man since the age of the patriarchs ; he saw the same spot of 
earth, which at one period of his life was covered with wood 
and bushes, and the receptacle of beasts and birds of prey, 
afterwards become the scat of a city, not only the first in 
wealth and arts, in the new, but rivalling in both, many of 
the first cities in the old world. He saw regular streets where 
he once pursued a hare ; he saw churches rising upon mo- 
rasses, where he had often heard the croaking of frogs ; he 
saw wharves and warehouses, where he had often seen Indian 
savages draw fish from the river for their daily subsistence ; 
and he saw ships, of every size and use, in those streams 



BENJAMIN RUSH. 87 

where he had often seen nothing but Indian canoes ; he saw 
a stately edifice filled with legislators, astonishing the world 
with their wisdom and virtue, on the same spot, probably, 
where he had seen an Indian council fire ; he saw the first 
treaty ratified between the newly confederated powers of 
America and the ancient monarchy of France, with all the 
formalities of parchment and seals, on the same spot, proba- 
bly, where he once saw William Penn ratify his first and last 
treaty with the Indians, without the formality of pen, ink, or 
paper; he saw all the intermediate stages through which a 
people pass, from the most simple to the highest degrees of 
civilization. He saw the beginning and end of the empire of 
Great Britain, in Pennsylvania. He had been the subject of 
seven successive crowned heads, and afterwards became a 
willing citizen of a republic ; for he embraced the liberties and 
independence of America in his withered arms, and triumphed, 
in the last years of his life, in the salvation of his country. 



BENJAMIN WEST. 

Born MDCCXXXVIII — Died MDCCCXX. 

The love of country is a principle of our being: and on 
account of the pure and sacred source from whence it flows, 
must be classed among the primary virtues. Its well-spring 
is in the heart ; and, next to the holy reverence for the benevo- 
lent God who formed us, has the deepest, strongest sanction 
of Nature and Religion. It has impelled to deeds of noble 
emprize, the mighty spirits whose names have been hallowed 
by the historian, in his record of their splendid and glorious 
achievements ; or it has excited to giant exertions the gifted 



88 BIOGRAPHY OF 

minds of mortals, that they might erect, in majestic grandeur, 
some monument of national honour, and enduring benefit. 

To register in our breasts the remembrance of those, who 
have thus added to the glory of our native land, and to cherish 
M'ith watchful care, a living homage for their virtues and la- 
bours, is the proper employment of this consecrated feeling. 
Our emotions of pleasure, when excited by the consideration 
that those who have won the renown and praise of mankind, 
are fellow countrymen with us, become sanctified, and not 
unfrequently animate to an imitation of their course of honour. 
They are emotions sublimated from every earthly dross; and 
in their proper cultivation and exercise, we emphatically rejoice 
with them that rejoice, rendering the tribute where it is due, 
in full measure and degree. 

Among those who have supplied an occasion for the em- 
ployment of this sacred feeling in the breasts of Americans, 
is the eminent artist, whose name stands at the head of this 
article. His exalted professional rank, and the honours which 
were conferred upon him, are sufficient to awaken a joyful 
pride, that he was of the beloved soil of our own country. 
Nor will this feeling be lessened, in degree or intensity, whilst 
contemplating, in severe scrutiny, this illustrious individual, in 
reference to his moral worth. His private personal virtues 
were of a sterling quality, and consecrated a life which was 
occupied in the production of works, that have justly procured 
for him an immortality of fame. 

Benjamin West was born on the lOlh of October, 1738, 
near Springfield, in Chester county, state of Pennsylvania. 
His ancestors, who were highly respectable, and connected 
with Lord Delaware, accompanied William Penn to this coun- 
try, in 1682, and settled in the vicinity of the birth-place of 
our artist. They belonged to the Society of Friends, and were 
eminent for their piety and virtues. 

Of the first six years of Benjamin's life, there is nothing 
remarkable to record. In the succeeding year, however, he 



BENJAMIN WEST. 89 

exhibited the talent, which afterwards elevated him to a height 
in his profession, beyond which very few have soared. One 
of his sisters came, with her infant, to spend a short time at 
her father's house. During her visit, she was invited by her 
mother to gather flowers in the garden, and our young artist 
was directed to watch over the child, then asleep in the cradle. 
After some time, his infant charge happened to smile in its 
slumbers, and its beauty attracted his attention. He contem- 
plated it with a pleasure, which he had never before experi- 
enced, and seizing, with agitated sensations, some paper, he 
delineated with a pen, a portrait of the infant, that had thus 
awakened the instinct of his genius. Hearing the approach 
of his mother and sister, he endeavoured to conceal this first 
essay of art ,- but his confusion being noticed, he was requested 
to show the paper. After entreating his mother not to be 
angry, he obeyed ; and Mrs. West, looking for some time at 
the sketch, said to her daughter, " I declare, he has made a 
Hkeness of little Sally !" and kissed him with much fondness 
and affection. 

Soon after this incident, Benjamin was sent to a school in 
the neighbourhood, and, in the hours of relaxation, was per- 
mitted to sketch with pen and ink ; the only materials at that 
time accessible. During the following summer, a party of 
Indians paid their annual visit to Springfield, and taught him 
to prepare the red and yellow colours, with which they 
painted their persons and ornaments. His mother added to 
these a piece of indigo, and our young artist was now in pos- 
session of what seemed to him, all that was requisite in his 
art. To use his paints, he was compelled to resort to the 
hair of the house-cat, from which he made his pencils, and 
with these imperfect materials he commenced colouring his 
drawings. In a short time, a relative from Philadelphia, who 
had seen his sketches, sent him a box of paints, with some 
engravings, which were the first he had seen, and of the art 

for executing which, he had not even heard. They were re- 

8# 



90 BIOGRAPHY OF 

ceived with rapture by him, and were immediately copied by 
the young painter, with admirable skill and faithfulness. 

The numerous evidences of his great talent in the art, en- 
couraged those vvho saw his productions, to recommend to his 
parents the cultivation of his genius, with the view of making 
him a professional painter. As it was a matter, upon which, 
the religious tenets of the family had pronounced an unfa- 
vourable opinion, the sentiments of the Society were solicited, 
that a decision might be made. Accordingly, in a meeting 
specially called for the purpose of debating the subject, it 
was determined that Benjamin should be allowed to employ 
the gift, which he possessed in so remarkable a degree ; and 
he was thus, as it can \)e said with propriety, dedicated to a 
pursuit, with the prayers and blessings of a Christian congre- 
gation. 

The sanction of his family and religious friends, gave a 
fresh impulse to the genius of the youthful painter. Regarded 
by all who had heard of him, or had been privileged to see 
his drawings, as one of the greatest promise, every occasion 
was employed to extend to him such aid as he needed. In- 
deed, it is a cause of astonishment, that in a short time, he 
should have engaged so general and affectionate an interest 
among the most prominent individuals of that day. All the 
sources of improvement in his art were generously supplied, 
and advice and instruction given by those, who could properly 
estimate his astonishing ability. That this unprecedented and 
spontaneous patronage was conferred, in some degree, on ac- 
count of the amiable character of young Benjamin, must, 
however, be inferred ; and as " tlie boy is father to the man," 
the esteem which he enjoyed in his youth, was the permanent 
tribute, which he received throughout a long life of honour 
and virtue. 

The improvement of our artist was so rapid, that at the 
period of sixteen, we find him a professional painter, and the 
productions of his pencil sought for with avidity. At the age 



BENJAMIN WEST. 91 

of twenty-one, he had realized by his art, and industrious ap- 
plication, a sum fully sufficient to gratify his desire of visiting 
Italy ; the great depository of the master-pieces of ancient and 
modem art. He accordingly sailed from Philadelphia, in the 
year 1760, for Leghorn, and from thence proceeded to Rome, 
which he reached in the month of July, of the same year. 
The arrival of an American in a city, still majestic in its ruins, 
and to which he had come from a wilderness, to qualify him- 
self for a pursuit which embellishes the very refinements of 
luxury, excited the wonder of the painters and connoisseurs 
of that proud metropolis. He was received, however, with 
the greatest enthusiasm, by all of any rank and distinction ; 
and exalted ecclesiastics vied with the eminent artists of the 
time, in extending to him the most decided marks of attention 
and respect. The following extract is given from his biogra- 
pher. Gait, to show the excited interest which prevailed on the 
occasion of his visit. 

" Among the distinguished persons whom Mr. West found 
in the company, was the celebrated cardinal Albani. His 
eminence, although quite blind, had acquired, by the exquisite 
delicacy of his touch, and the combining powers of his mind, 
such a sense of ancient beauty, that he excelled all the vir- 
tuoso then in Rome, in the correctness of his knowledge of 
the verity, and peculiarities of the smallest medals and intag- 
lios. Mr. Robinson conducted the artist to the inner apart- 
ment, where the cardinal was sitting, and said, " I have the 
honour to present a young American, who has a letter of 
introduction to your eminence, and who has come to Italy for 
the purpose of studying the fine arts." The cardinal, fancy- 
ing that the American must be an Indian, exclaimed, "Is he 
black or white ?" and on being told that he was very fair, 
" What, as fair as I am ?" cried the cardinal, still more sur- 
prised. This latter expression excited a good deal of mirth 
at the cardinal's expense, for his complexion was of the dark- 



92 BIOGRAPHY OF 

est Italian olive, and West*s was even of more than the usual 
degree of English fairness. For some time after, if it be not 
still in use, the expression of " as fair as the cardinal," ac- 
quired proverbial currency in the Roman conversations, ap- 
plied to persons who had any inordinate conceit of their own 
beauty. 

" The cardinal, after some other short questions, invited 
West to come near him, and running his hands over his fea- 
tures, still more attracted the attention of the company to the 
stranger, by the admiration which he expressed at the form 
of his head. This occasioned inquiries respecting the youth; 
and the Italians concluding, that as he was an American, he 
must, of course, have received the education of a savage, be- 
came curious to witness the effect which the works of art in 
the Belvidere and Vatican would produce on him. The whole 
company, consisting of the principal Roman nobility, and 
strangers of distinction then in Rome, were interested in the 
event; and it was arranged in the course of the evening, that 
on the following morning they should accompany Mr. Robin- 
son and his protege to the palaces. 

" At the hour appointed, the company assembled ; and a 
procession, consisting of upwards of thirty of the most mag- 
nificent equipages in the capital of Christendom, and filled 
with some of the most erudite characters in Europe, conducted 
the young quaker to view the master-pieces of art. It was 
agreed that the Apollo should be first submitted to his view, 
because it was the most perfect work among all the ornaments 
of Rome ; and, consequently, the best calculated to produce 
that effect which the company was anxious to witness. The 
statue then stood in a case, enclosed with doors, which could 
be so opened as to disclose it at once to full view. West was 
placed in the situation where it was seen to the most advan- 
tage, and the spectators arranged themselves on each side. 
When the keeper threw open the doors, the artist felt himself 
surprised with a sudden recollection altogether different from 



BENJAM IN WEST. 93 

the gratification which he had expected ; and without being 
aware of the force of what he said, exclaimed, " O ! how 
like it is to a young Mohawk warrior !" The Italians ob- 
serving his surprise, and hearing the exclamation, requested 
Mr. Robinson to translate to them what he said ; and they 
were excessively mortified to find that the god of their idolatry 
was compared to a savage. Mr. Robinson mentioned to West 
their chagrin, and asked him to give some more distinct ex- 
planation, by informing him what sort of people the Mohawk 
Indians were. He described to him their education ; their 
dexterity with the bow and arrow ; the admirable elasticity 
of their limbs ; and how much their active life expands the 
chest, while the quick breathing of their speed in the chase, 
dilates the nostrils with that apparent consciousness of vigour 
which is so nobly depicted in the Apollo. "I have seen them 
often," added he, " standing in that very attitude, and pur- 
suing, with an intense eye, the arrow which they had just 
discharged from the bow." This descriptive explanation did 
not lose by Mr. Robinson's translation. The Italians were 
delighted, and allowed that a better criticism had rarely been 
pronounced on the merits of the statue." 

The rapid change from the forests of America, where no 
productions of the pencil, but of an inferior order, had been 
seen by him, to the very throne of the arts and long culti- 
vated taste, made so forcible an impression upon his feelings, 
as to injure his health. Enthusiasm had heated, to too great 
a degree, his ardent mind ; and he was overcome by the 
grandeur of the sublime objects, which every where met 
him. In obedience to the advice of his physicians, he 
travelled throughout the different Catholic states, occasionally 
returning, with renewed health to Rome, and resuming his 
studies. Wherever he went, the same marked and honour- 
able reception awaited him ; and the American painter be- 
came an object of emulous respect and attention. 



94 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Having passed through Genoa, Turin, and Paris, with a 
frame enfeebled by too great an assiduity to his profession, he 
reached London in 17G3. Immediately on his arrival, which 
was attended with the same generous distinction which he 
had enjoyed in Italy, he visited the different collections in 
England to ascertain the state of the arts in that country. 
This excursion having been completed, it was his purpose 
to return to his native country, but he was persuaded, by the 
princely offers made to him, to remain in the metropolis of 
the British empire. 

In a short time, his superior excellence as a painter, procured 
for him a patronage equal to his most sanguine expectations. 

The Royal Society of painters was established through his 
instrumentality ; and West was honoured by George III., 
King of England, with favours the most liberal and munifi- 
cent. In 1772 he was named historical painter to his majesty, 
and in 1791 he was unanimously elected president of the 
Royal Academy, in which honourable station he continued 
until his death. From different sovereigns in Europe he also 
received the most flattering testimonials of the merit, in which 
he was deservedly held. 

The industry of this eminent artist was truly astonishing. 
A mere catalogue of his works would fill a volume ; and, if 
their extent and variety be considered, they will be found to 
be far more numerous than have ever proceeded from the pen- 
cil of any single artist. But this is not the distinctive excellence 
of his productions ; possessing, as they all do, a worth which 
is intrinsically great. There is a higher commendation to 
be awarded to West ; and it is, that his talents were never 
prostituted to inflame those desires which demand restraints 
rather than allurements. Our painter never wooed fame, at' 
the expense of morals ! The pieces which he admired the 
most, are those which embody the purest, holiest affections 
of the human heart : and the principal sources of his inspira- 
tion vvere those of the blessed records of our divine faith! 



BENJAMIN WEST. 95 

Among those productions of his comprehensive genius, the 
picture of " Christ healing the Sick," is the property of the 
Pennsylvania Hospital ; having been expressly painted for 
that benevolent institution, and generously presented to it by 
the illustrious artist. It need not be stated, that it is the ad- 
miration of the thousands who annually visit it, and in doing 
so, cheerfully bestow their benefactions upon one of the many 
deserving charities of our metropolis. 

On the 6th of March, 1829, Mr. West expired, after a 
brief sickness. His death was remarkable for that placid 
calmness, which had ever been the attendant upon his long 
and valuable life. He was interred in St. Paul's Cathedral, 
London, with much ceremony and funeral pomp ; greater, 
perhaps, than himself would have chosen. 



When and where was Benjamin West born ? 

Who were his ancestors ? 

At what age did Benjamin first exhibit his talent for painting ? 

Mention the occasion. 

Tell about the visit of the Indians. 

What were his first materials ? 

At what age was he a professional painter ? 

In what year did he visit Rome ? 

Relate the incident with Cardinal Albani. 

What was West's exclamation when he first beheld the Apollo ? 

What royal personage patronized him ? 

Of what academy was he the president ? 

Which of his productions is in the city of Philadelphia ? 

When did he die ? 



96 BIOGRAPHY OF 

ROBERT FULTON. 

Born MDCCLXV — Died MDCX^CXV. 

The glory of the most splendid triumph of genius, and the 
noblest achievement of the inventive mind, must be awarded 
to the distinguished subject of this memoir. The magnitude 
of the benefits which have resulted to the world at large, 
from his ingenuity, and the very changes in society, which 
his invention has occasioned, can only be exceeded by the 
immense effects which the best grounded expectations au- 
thorize us to entertain, as yet to occur. A revolution, which 
has given a new character to commerce, and a new energy 
to the mechanic arts ; which has brought the uttermost isles 
of the sea within the reach of the adventurer, and caused 
oceans, which lave unknown shores, to be the familiar home 
of the mariner, has been produced by the practical skill of a 
single individual ! Whilst time and space may be said to be 
annihilated, there has been accomplished, to no inconsiderable 
extent, the vain-glorious boast of the Grecian philosopher; 
and both the mighty lever and its required fulcrum, have 
been supplied in the navigation by steam, which Fulton first 
succeeded in bringing to perfection. 

It will not detract from the honours of this eminent indi- 
vidual, to present those truths in respect to the application 
of steam to the purposes of navigation, which have become 
a matter of historical record. The tribute which is exacted 
from the world, and which is demanded for Fulton, is, that 
he be acknowledged the successful projector for adapting a 
known power to a purpose of immense and extensive neces- 
sity and employment. That he was eminently fortunate in 
this direction, and that he Avas the first who had advantage- 
ously employed a mighty engine for the propelling of vessels, 



ROBERT FULTON. 97 

must be regarded as conferring upon him an imperishable 
renown. 

In a national point of view, it is necessary, also, that a re- 
sort to facts, in regard to steam navigation, should be had. 
We claim for a Pennsylvanian, the triumph of full and per- 
fect success in this attempt ; and we claim for Pennsylvania 
the honour of having, on two of her waters, the first steam- 
boat, of which there is any certain account. Since the inven- 
tion has been seen, in all its extensive results, it has been 
claimed by almost every country in Europe; and men, other- 
wise illustrious for the great elevation of their moral charac- 
ters, through a vain desire to add to the glory of their respec- 
tive nations, have endeavoured to deprive America of the 
honour which is justly her due. A candid examination of the 
subject, however, must inevitably convince the inquirer, that 
on the banks of the Delaware, the first steamboat was con- 
structed, and that on her waters she first moved, with an 
average speed of five miles an hour against the current. 

The successful employment of steam power in stationary 
engines, by Bolton and Watts, of England, had produced a 
general inquiry, whether it could not be used, with equal ad- 
vantage, in navigating vessels. The interest which was 
awakened, when the subject became a matter of discussion, 
was of the most lively nature ; and, in different sections of 
Europe, propositions for engaging in an enterprise of the kind 
were made. Yet there is no evidence, such, at least, as can 
be received, without too great an abatement of faith, that any 
practical attempt towards building a steamboat, had beeo com- 
menced, at a time prior to the experin>ent, of which it is in- 
tended to give an account in the present article. In our country, 
however, it is boldly asserted, there can be found the most 
convincing proofs in the contemporaneous publications of the 
day, that a boat, propelled by steam, was not only built, and 
for upwards of two years, was employed in carrying passen- 
gers in the several trips she made, but that at the present time 
9 



98 BIOGRAPHY OF 

of writing this paper, individuals are still living, who, on 
different occasions, were on board when thus used. As 
further confirmatory of the extent of the interest awakened 
in the minds of Americans, at the period alluded to, it is a 
matter of unquestioned truth, that simultaneously with the ex- 
periments in Philadelphia, Rumsey was prosecuting the enter- 
prise in Virginia, and had succeeded in effecting an important 
improvement in the boiler. It is likewise worthy of notice, 
that the unfortunate Brissot, who was at this time travelling in 
America, states, in his account of the country, that this indi- 
vidual had issued proposals for building a steam packet, which 
would require only a voyage of fifteen days between Phila- 
delphia and London ! With these preliminary remarks, we 
now proceed to give an account of the first vessel, propelled 
by steam, to which any positive reference can be made. 

It was in the year 1788, that John Fitch and Henry Voighi 
commenced their operations for building a boat and machinery, 
at a projection of the shore of the Delaware, in Kensington, 
called Conjuror's Point, by the neighbours, from the mys- 
tery in which they conducted their novel undertaking. The 
former of these projectors was, it is believed, a native of one 
of the New England states, a watch-maker, and of rather 
limited education. He was poor, and the funds which he 
employed were chiefly procured from his partner, Voight. 
This person was a Saxon by birth, and chief coiner of the 
United States mint. He was a very ingenious clock and 
mathematical instrument maker, and under the direction of 
Rittenhouse, by whom he was very highly esteemed, had 
constructed the machinery of the above department. The 
smith employed to make the iron work of the boat, was Peter 
Brown ; and Andrew Wilson was the builder of the vessel. 
A few shares were sold at $16 each ; but the scepticism of 
the community prevented the remainder from being taken, 
and the partners in the project had to depend upon their own 
resources. 



ROBERT FULTON. 99 

After much vexatious delay, arising chiefly from the diffi- 
culty in procuring workmen of sufficient skill to complete the 
several portions of the intricate machinery, the boat at length 
was set in motion, and her progress, on the first trial, was four 
miles an hour, against the tide. She had paddles or sweeps 
at her stern, instead of wheels at the sides, as were afterwards 
employed by Fulton. Unfortunately, almost every trip which 
she made on the Delaware or Schuylkill river, was attended 
with some casualty to the works, which were imperfectly exe- 
cuted. The boat, however, progressively improved in speed ; 
and an eye-witness relates, that the last trip she made was from 
Burlington to Philadelphia, when she moved at the rate often 
miles the hour. When opposite to Kensington, her machinery 
broke, and she was afterwards abandoned, both on account 
of the exhaustion of funds, and the impracticability of securing 
artisans of sufficient ability for the requisite repairs. 

It has thus been seen that the honour of completing the first 
steamboat belongs to our country. That the experiment was 
not entirely successful, is not attempted to be denied ; yet, that 
it was as much so as any new invention, connected with such 
complicated machinery, could be, must be admitted by every 
candid individual. The attempt was made in a country yet 
young, and not abounding in the resources of practical skill 
or mechanical ability. Indeed, it may well be a subject of 
astonishment, that with means so inadequate, the enterprise 
was attended with the success already mentioned. In suc- 
ceeding years, Fulton brought to perfection the object for which 
Fitch and Voight had toiled ; and to him belongs a glory, equal 
to that which has been gained by the most expanded genius. 

Robert Fulton was born in Little Britain,* in the county of 
Lancaster, and state of Pennsylvania, in the year 1765. His 
parents were originally from Ireland, and respectably con- 
nected in that country. They were not, however, opulent ; 

* Or, according to other autliority, in Lancaster city; his parents 
havinjj removed to Little Britain wlien he was five months oki. 



100 BlOCi RAPIIY OF 

and the patrii-nony inherit'^d by Robert, on the decease of his 
father, which occurred when the subject of our memoir was 
only three years of age, was not, in itself, considerable. From 
the dictates of filial piety, as well as from the impulses of a gene- 
rosity, which was an enduring trait in his character through- 
out life, he not only relinquished the claim to his portion of 
the estate, in behalf of his widowed mother, but through his 
industry and talents, was enabled to present her with a pro- 
perty in Washington county, upon which, in the decline of 
life, she resided in competency and happiness. The death of 
this parent was followed by his generous donation of the farm 
to one of his sisters. 

The education which Fulton received, was of a limited 
character,* confined to the common branches of elementary 
schools. His studious habits, however, enabled him to im- 
prove his mind beyond the daily instruction he received ; whilst 
his inquiring disposition was evinced, in his resorting to the 
shops of the mechanics in Lancaster, during the periods as- 
signed for recreation, and observing their operations. He also 
sought every opportunity for making progress in the art of 
painting, to which he had, at an early age, shown a decided 
taste, and which, in a brief time, ministered to his resources. 
Having removed to Philadelphia when yet young, he became 
an ajjprentice to a Mr. Andrews, in order to acquire a know- 
ledge of the art of a jeweller. The business, however, did not 
please him ; and at the age of seventeen, we find that he was 
a successful portrait painter, and in the receipt of considerable 
patronage from the public. An urgent recommendation to the 
measure by a number of distinguished individuals, induced 
him to visit England ; where his promising genius drew the 
attention of his countryman, Benjamin West, then celebrated 
as an historical painter, and possessed of extensive influence 
among the British nobility and gentry. A warm friendship 
between the two artists was soon established, and it continued 
in all its original freshness until the death of Fulton. 



ROBERT FULTON. 101 

Not satisfied with his progress in painting, though sup- 
plying him with a respectable income, he gradually relin- 
quished the pursuit, and directed his attention to the me- 
chanic arts. Through the friendship of West, he had been 
honoured with the acquaintance of the Duke of Bridgewater 
and Earl Stanhope, both illustrious for the cultivation of useful 
knowledge, and the patronage of merit. Through their recom- 
mendation, he engaged in the attempt to increase the facili- 
ties of inland navigation ; and in 1794, he procured from the 
English government, a patent, for a double inclined plane. 
About this time, he also invented a mill for the sawino- of mar- 
ble, a machine for spinning flax, and another for manufac- 
turing ropes. These valuable improvements were patented ; 
and for their invention, he was honoured with the thanks of 
the society tor the promotion of arts and sciences, and an 
honorary gold medal. Besides these important and useful 
works, he prepared a treatise on canal navigation ; the sug- 
gestions in which, were of such a valuable character, that 
his plans were adopted by the British board of agriculture, 
with a flattering testimonial of their ingenuity. 

In 1796, Mr. Fulton visited France, with the object of 
introducing his improvements into that country. He spent 
several years in Paris, where he devoted himself to the study 
of the modern languages, to philosophy, and the higher 
branches of mathematics. While in the French metropolis, 
he lived on terms of great and affectionate intimacy with 
Joel Barlow, Esq., the author of our national poem, " The 
Columbiad ;" to the splendid embellishment of which he 
materially assisted, when in the course of its being pub- 
lished. The succeeding year was marked by Fulton's trial 
of his inventions in submarine navigation and explosion, on 
the river Seine. The terrible engine which he prepared, he 
called the torpedo ; and under the direction of Bonaparte, an 
experiment was made upon a small vessel prepared for the 
purpose. It succeeded to his entire expectations ; for she 
9* 



102 BIOGRAPHY OF 

was blown into fragments, to a vast height in the air. A 
similar exhibition of the destructive power of the machine, was 
made by the inventor, on his return to this country, and with 
the same results. 

Previously to his leaving Europe, Mr. Fulton re-crossed 
the channel for England, where he was received with the 
attention to which his distinguished talents entitled him. 
A change of ministry interfered with the immediate adoption 
of his important inventions, and he sailed for the land of his 
birth, and arrived in New York, in 1808. He now directed 
his attention to steam-navigation ; and in conjunction with the 
Hon. Robert R. Livingston, who had suggested the practica- 
bility of it to him, in Paris, he commenced his operations. 
Among the many plans of improvement, which occupied his 
mind, that of navigating boats by steam, had, for some time 
before, received much consideration ; but the full prosecution 
of the idea was prevented through the multitude of subjects 
already demanding his attention. In France, as early as 
1803, Mr. Livingston and himself, had constructed a model 
steamboat ; and the trial, which was perfectly successful, 
was made on the Seine, in the presence of numbers. Imme- 
diately on his arrival in America, the building of a steam- 
vessel was commenced, and in 1807, the boat, which was 
called the Clermont, began navigating the Hudson, at the 
rate of five miles per hour, against the stream. Speaking 
of the experiment, he says : — " The morning I left New York, 
there were not, perhaps, thirty persons in the city, who 
believed that the boat would move one mile an hour, or be 
of the least utility. And when we were putting off from the 
wharf, which was crowded with spectators, I heard a num- 
ber of sarcastic remarks. This is the way, you know, igno- 
rant men compliment what they call philosophers and pro- 
jectors." He, however, gained his splendid triumph over 
prejudice and every difficulty : and in the moment of certain 
Success, it can be easily imagined, there was concentrated a 



ROBERT FULTON. 103 

measure of joy, which fully repaid him for all his previous 
anxieties and toils. 

In the second year of the late war between the United States 
and England, Fulton conceived the plan of 'building a steam 
man-of-war, and submitted to the government his models, &c. 
His project was adopted ; and with such avidity was it pur- 
sued by him, that in four months the stupendous battery was 
launched, under the name of " Fulton the First." She was 
estimated to cost three hundred and twenty thousand dollars : 
a sum not too great, when it is remembered that it was granted 
for the most formidable engine for the destruction of human life, 
in naval warfare, that the ingenuity of man has ever contrived. 
This fearful vessel was not completed until after the termination 
of the war ; but every trial which was made, confirmed the 
opinion as to the full sufficiency for the purposes of her struc- 
ture. A few years since, she was destroyed by an explosion 
of her magazine, caused through the negligence of a common 
sailor. 

In the winter of 1815, his health, which had been previ- 
ously suffering, both from the delicacy of his constitution, and 
the arduous labours of his mind, received a severe shock, 
through an unavoidable exposure to the severity of the season. 
The consequent illness was violent, but brief. In a few days 
it terminated in his death, and on the 24th of February of the 
above year, there departed from the world, which he had im- 
measurably benefited, one, who was " a martyr to his efforts 
in the cause of science, of friendship, and patriotism !" 



What is said about the results produced by steam navigation? 

When was it that Fitch and Voight commenced their operations for building 
a steamboat ? 

Where did ihey conduct the enterprise? 

Simultaneously with their experiment, who in Vil-gihia was conducting a 
similar operation ? 

Did Fitch and Voight succeed ? 

On what rivers did their boat move ? 

How was she propelled, by wheels or sweeps ? 



104 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Where was Fulton born, and when ? 

Had he extensive advantages of education? 

What is said about his studious habits ? 

To which of the fine arts did he devote his attention? 

To what branch of business was he apprenticed in Philadelphia? 

What induced him to visit England ? 

With what American artist did he form a close friendship ? 

To what illustrious persons did West introduce him ? 

What machines did he invent when in England? 

When did he visit France ? 

What is said concerning his inventions in sub-marine navigation and explo- 
sion ? 

What was this terrible engine called ? 

When did he return to this country ? 

In conjunction with whom did he commence his experiments in steam navi- 
gation ? 

Had he previously turned his attention to this subject ? 

What was the name of the boat that he built on the Hudson ? 

What does he remark in respect to the first trial ? 

What can you say about the steam man-of-war ? 

When did Fulton die? 



RT. REV. BISHOP WHITE. 

Born MDCCXLVIII — Died MDCCCXXXVl. 

The holy lives of her departed people, are the inheritance 
of the Church of God : the splendid triumphs which they ex- 
hibited in their deaths, are among her brightest glories ! The 
legacy of their illustrious examples is precious in the sight 
of gospel votaries, for the memorial of their virtues is en- 
shrined in the hearts of the faithful. To the record of their 
consecrated labours, the worshipper of the altar turns with 
sacred ardour, for spiritual encouragement ; whilst their hal- 
lowed names are held in fond and tender remembrance by the 
believer in that divine religion which they adorned in life, and 
which enabled them to die, the trophied conquerors of a stern 
destroyer. 



RT. REV. BISHOP WHITE. 105 

To preserve the memories of the eminent and pious dead, 
and to cherish, with enduring constancy, the recollection of 
their faithfulness and godly conversation, is a precept of our 
holy faith. It ap[)eals to all the sanctified sensibilities of our 
hearts, for perpetuating the remembrance of departed worth, 
and registering in the bosom's deep sanctuary, the examples 
of those who have gone to their reward ; leaving behind them 
the sweet savour of their deeds, and the reflected beauties of 
their virtues. It draws the heart in pensive meditation to the 
tombs of prophets and apostles, of martyrs and holy men; 
and in the moment of solemn and subdued feeling, lends its 
spirit to the breast, that it may glow with admiration for the 
loveliness of religion, aiid be animated to the imitation of the 
signal virtues of those who adorned their profession by gos- 
pel graces, and evangelical holiness. Over the tombs of such, 
the early followers of the humble Nazarene were wont, at 
stated periods, to strew the flowers which piety had gathered ; 
or bedew their graves with the tears of tervent gratitude and 
love. They were occasions, dedicated to religious offices; 
and whilst embalming, in renewed freshness, the eminent vir* 
tues of the departed ; or whilst scattering over their remains, 
the votive offerings of religion, they clothed themselves as 
with the mantle of the revered, and invoked a portion of that 
same sacred, consecrating fire, with which their souls were 
enkindled in faith, and warmed to an active obedience. 

Occasions like these, could not indeed fail in their intended 
benefit to the human heart ; for meditcitions upon the moral 
excellencies of tlie dead, must have a hallowing influence in 
the breast, not wholly indurated. It is not for the homage 
which is rendered to (hose who have gone from us, that they 
are required, but for ourselves ; to the end that our souls may 
be excited with a glow of admiration ; and that, admiring, 
we may imitate. It was with this view that they became 
of stated appointment ; and although they no longer may be 
connected with religious ordination, yet the occasional con- 



106 BIOGRAPHY OF 

templation of those examples of holy and pure men, which 
are on record, cannot fail, to some degree, in begetting a share 
of emulation and reverence. The tribute of love cannot be 
withheld for their memories, whilst the heart may be awakened 
to the desire, that we may trace the steps by which they 
reached that spiritual excellence, which was their adornment 
and praise, whilst enclothed in mortality. 

To claim the incense of the heart's reverence for the me- 
mory of him, whose name is now before us, is to ask a tribute 
which is emphatically due to virtues, that were ever exhibited 
in a long life of Christian practice, and to a piety which was 
ever seen in gospel loveliness. The erring pen which re- 
cords this memorial of departed excellence, does so without 
respect to the distinctive principles of religion, which were 
cherished by the venerable man, whose great worth it would 
celebrate. It is of the personal merit, the personal graces, 
the marked purity of his life, and the holiness of his walk, 
in a world of frailty and transgression, that it would tell; 
and if primitive simplicity of character ; if apostolic integrity 
and Christian meekness ; if a piety, ever fervent, yet never 
obtrusive ; and religion, without pride ,* and knowledge, with- 
out vanity ; call for commendation and honour ; these are, 
in no small measure, to be conferred upon his memory and 
name. 

Few men have ever secured for themselves a greater share 
of unmixed esteem and respect, from the world at large, than 
Bishop White. From childhood, to the period of that good 
old age, which Providence permitted him to reach, he con- 
stantly increased in the estimation of the public mind. The 
religious tenets of the communion in which he was born, and 
over which he so faithfully presided, were, at one time, un- 
popular, on account of its colonial connexion with the estab- 
lished Church of England. His mild, yet faithful exposition 
of the doctrines which are held by it, removed the prejudices, 
whilst it convinced the understandings of multitudes. His 



RT. REV. BISHOP WHITE. 107 

exaltation to the bishopric of liis native commonwealth, re- 
garded at the season of his consecration with jealousy, enabled 
him, by his apostolic meekness, to exhibit the character of a 
prelate, who, although invested with the staff of power, em- 
ployed it only in Christian love, and for its primitive purpose. 
The influence which he possessed, both from the important 
relation in which he was placed to a large body of Christians, 
and his extensive learning, were never the occasion of exciting 
an ambition to be exalted before the world ; but, on the con- 
trary, he always shrank, in trembling modesty, from worldly 
honours, or those distinctions which a vain-glorious heart 
mijiht seek. Althouujh connected with the events of our revo- 
lutionary contest, and called by patriotism to interest himself 
in producing an issue, which a solemn sense of duty made 
him ardently seek, yet his self-respect, and the dignity of the 
sacred ministry, would never allow him to mingle in party 
strife or factious struggles. That his public course was 
marked by the manifestation of a Christian spirit, abiding in 
a breast which was, however, not insensible to the claims of 
the oppressed land of his birth, the great and constant esteem 
which Washington delighted to extend to him, is the most 
honourable evidence. 

Of the benevolence which characterized the life of Dr. 
White, the best evidences are found, not only in the city of 
his birth, but throughout the vast extent of the territory of 
the United States. No appeal for his charity was ever made 
to him in vain ; and the only inquiry which preceded the be- 
stowal of his contributions, was whether the objects for their 
donation, were truly promotive of the relief designed by the 
petitioners. There is no institution established in Philadelphia, 
within the century preceding his death, that has not enjoyed, 
not only the benefits of his munificence, but an ever active 
interest for its welfare. In the halls of science and literature, 
is his name not only emblazoned as their patron : but over 
the lintels of those gates, which open to the asylums of hu* 



108 BIOGRAPHY OF 

man suffering and wretchedness, the beneficence of him, who 
was the first to weep with the sons and daughters of misery, 
is traced in distinctive characters. Fie was indeed a benefac- 
tor of his race ; and whether his aid was needed in \\\e cause 
of his country, in the promotion of knowledge, or in the 
alleviation of those distresses of which the appointment of 
Heaven has made mankind the subjects, still was it ever-living 
and ever-enduring. 

To his faithfulness as a servant of the altar, a deserved and 
merited tribute could be borne, were this a befitting occasion. 
Sufficient is it to say, that so far as recollection will aid, no 
ministering clergyman has ever held his sacred station for the 
same length of time, in the American church, or with the same 
return of devoted and warm affection, on the part of his par- 
ishioners, as this reverend subject of our memoir. In his more 
exalted character of a prelate, he was distinguished not more 
for the dignity which marked the administration of the respon- 
sible duties of his station, than for the extensive benefits which 
have resulted from his judicious exercise of an apostolic corn- 
mission. 

In private life. Bishop White may be said to have furnished 
a happy illustration of the efficacy of gospel principles, in 
sanctifying the human heart, and qualifying it for the exercise 
of the best affections and charities of our renewed nature. His 
home was consecrated by those graces and dispositions, which 
not only adorn the circle of its innmtes, but give it its sweetest 
and holiest charms. Those who were favoured with the pri- 
vilege of an intercourse with him, never failed to experience 
the conviction, that an affectionate reverence was the willing 
tribute to be rendered to one, so amiable in his bearing, and 
of such suavity in his address. In truth, all who knew him, 
loved him ; and they who knew him best, loved him the most. 

William White was born in the city of Philadelphia, on the 
24th of March, 1748, (O. S.,) corresponding with April 4th, 
1748, (N. S.) In his childhood, he manifested a strong in- 



RT. REV; BISHOP WHITE. lOS 

clinatioii for the sacred ministry of the church in which he 
was cradled ; and anecdotes are related, which illustrate the 
strong influence of religious impressions on his infant heart. 
Having received the necessary preparation, he was entered in 
the College of Philadelphia, at present the University of Penn- 
sylvania; and at the age of seventeen, was honoured with the 
degree of bachelor of arts, with the credit due to his great 
talents, and the diligent employment of them. About the 
close of the year 1770, he repaired to England for holy orders, 
and was ordained a deacon, in the month of December of the 
same year. In April, 1772, he received priest's orders, and 
having left England, where he had greatly improved his mind, 
through an intercourse with the eminent men of that period, 
he returned to Philadelphia. In a short time, he was invited 
to become an assistant rector to the churches, with which he 
continued connected to the time of his death. 

Having been appointed chaplain to congress, he discharged 
his duties at the most critical period of our revolutionary con- 
test, and under very peculiar circumstances ; the influence of 
which could only have been overcome by the purest patriotism. 
In this honourable station, he continued during the sittings of 
the above body, in his native city, and only resigned his con- 
nexion with it, when it was removed to Washington, in 1801. 

In April, 1779, he was elected rector of Christ Church, and 
St. Peter's, in which charge, and that of St. James, grown out 
of the other two, he remained the whole of his professional life, 
to the edification of his admiring and affectionate people. The 
severance of the Episcopal churches in America, from the 
English hierarchy, required their organization, in this country, 
upon those fundamental principles, which are distinctive in the 
communion to which Dr. White belonged. With the favour 
of Providence, and the aid of his reverend brethren, and of 
some excellent laymen of the church, he succeeded in procur- 
ing a convention of clerical and lay deputies ; who assembled 
in Philadelphia, in September, 1785. The venerable subject 
10 



110 BIOGRAPHY OF 

of our memoir presided ; and after having established a con- 
stitution for ecclesiastical government, and adopted other requi- 
site measures, relating to faith and discipline, this respectable 
body, at a subsequent meeting, in 1786, elected him bishop 
of the church in Pennsylvania. He soon after proceeded to 
England for consecration, and along with Dr. Provost, who 
had been appointed to the same station, in New York, he re- 
ceived his sacred commission in the Episcopacy of the church, 
in the chapel of the palace of Lambeth, on the 4th of March, 
1787, at the hands of Dr. John Moore, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury; Dr. William Markham, Archbishop of York; Dr. Charles 
Moss, Bishop of Bath and Wells ; and Dr. John Hinchliff, 
Bishop of Petersborough, being present and assisting. 

It has been before stated, that the benevolence of Bishop 
White was active and enduring. It was most signally 
exhibited in all the excellence and loveliness of its hallowed 
spirit, in his intercourse with his Christian brethren of various 
denominations of faith. Whilst he cherished with intense 
affection the distinctive doctrines of his church, and on every 
required occasion, " set forth" her claims, he did so with 
entire respect to the peculiarities of such as conscientiously 
differed from the views which were entertained by him. 
And it is recorded, in deserved commendation, that in the 
whole course of his long life, he never wounded the feelings 
of an individual, by harshness of judgment, or through a for- 
getfulness of Christian courtesy. In the universal respect 
and esteem which all, however opposite to him in creed, 
delighted to extend to this amiable servant of God, he had an 
honourable reward. 

Dr. White was a voluminous writer, and his productions 
are almost entirely of a religious nature. Many of his 
valuable treatises have been published, and they are consi- 
dered as important aids, both for the student and matured 
scholar. It has been announced by his executors, that his 
wurks arc about being published, in five volumes ; and they 



RT. REV. BISHOP WHITE. Ill 

win be received with joy, by all who can properly appreciate 
their assured excellence. 

This venerable and revered servant of a Divine Master, 
expired on the 17th of July, 1836, after a few days' sickness. 
His death was calm and serene : and he left a world, which 
he had long trod in the fear of God, and a church, of which 
he was a bright ornament, to enter upon that unfading 
inheritance, which is the reward of the faithful children of an 
Eternal King. 

The announcement of the death of Bishop White, was 
followed by a general gloom throughout the city, where he 
had spent his valuable life, and from the inhabitants of which, 
on account of his many excellent virtues, he had won a sin- 
cere and affectionate esteem. On the day of his interment, 
there was a spontaneous suspension of business ; and the 
great reverence for his character, was mournfully exhibited, 
in the vast multitude that followed the remains of the beloved 
patriarch to his tomb. 



What are the inheritance of the church of God ? 

What is a precept of our holy faith ? 

What was the custom of the primitive Christians? 

What is said of the benevolence of Bishop White ? 

What in respect to his ministry ? 

When and where was he born ? 

At what college was he educated ? 

When did he visit England, and for what purpose? 

When was he consecrated bishop, and by whom ? 

What is said about him as a writer ? 

When did he die ? 



112 BIOGRAPHY OF 

REV. NATHANIEL EVANS. 

Born MDCCXLII — Died MDCCLXVII. 

If the rigid canons of criticism will not allow the name of 
Evans to be mscribed among those of the inspired children 
of poesy and song, yet the cause of virtue requires that there 
be some memorial of one, who embodied in harmonious verse, 
the chaste conceptions and moral excellencies of a sound and 
well regulated mind ! Apart from the merit which might 
be claimed for him by his admirers, on account of the sup- 
posed beauties which can be found in his writings, the de- 
mand of justice is interposed, that there be rendered to his 
amiable character and pure life, the deserved tribute of esteem 
and honour. Especially is this called for, since circum- 
stances, distinctly unfavourable at the time of his brief career 
in life, have heretofore prevented an exhibition of the claims 
which rest upon his countrymen, for their admiration and re- 
spect. 

The subject of this memoir was born in Philadelphia, on 
June 8th, 1742. His father, who was a respectable merchant 
of the city, designed him for the same pursuit, but, having 
ample means, determined to afford his son the advantages of 
an education beyond the mere requisites for commercial 
business. He was accordingly entered in the college of Phi- 
ladelphia, and soon exhibited his fondness for classical learn- 
ing, and the wide range of polite literature. He, in a brief 
time, endeared himself to the faculty of that venerable insti- 
tution, by his close application and amiable temper; and the 
regard was reciprocated by our young student in full measure. 
The volume of his poems, which was edited by the worthy 
and excellent provost, contains an elegy to the memory of 



REV. NATHANIEL EVANS. 113 

Theophilus Grew, the professsor of mathematics, written in 
the warmth of a devoted friendship and gratitude. 

Having continued in the college for six years, he was re- 
moved to the counting-house of a merchant, with the view, 
on the part of his parent, of qualifying him for a business 
which the former designed should be pursued by his son. 
The taste for literature, however, which he had cherished in 
his academical course, with so much delight and profit, made 
him regret that the duties of the counting-house interfered 
with pursuits so congenial to his mind's best wishes and incli- 
nation. , On completing the term for which he was engaged 
at the desk, he immediately returned to the college, and re- 
sumed his studies with renewed vigour and devotion. 

Perhaps there are few instances on record, of greater pro- 
gress in the pursuit of knowledge, or of a more ardent en- 
gagement in the occupations of the scholar, than that furnished 
by young Evans. Such was his great diligence in study, that 
at the commencement, held on May 30th, 1765, a short time 
after his second matriculation, he was, by special mandate 
of the Trustees, and upon the unanimous recommendation of 
the Board of Faculty, honoured with a diploma for the degree 
of Master of Arts ; although he had not received the pre- 
vious degree of Bachelor, on account of the interruption in 
his studies, during the season which was spent in the counting- 
house. 

Immediately subsequent to the commencement, he em- 
barked for England, favoured with the most honourable testi- 
monials of respect and esteem for his great talents and virtues. 
The object of his visit to the mother country, was the import- 
ant one of receiving ordination in the Church of England, 
and the appointment of Missionary for Gloucester county. New 
Jersey, from the venerable " Society for propagating the Gos- 
pel in foreign parts." If his acknowledged abilities were a 
qualification in a literary point of view, for this sacred call- 
ing, his piety, and the excellent virtues of his heart and life, 
10* 



114 BIOGRAPHY OF 

yielded the assurance of future usefulness. Upon the society's 
nomination, he was admitted to orders, by Dr. Terrick, bishop 
of London, exercising provisional authority over the colonial 
churches. His examination gave the greatest satisfaction to 
the above prelate, particularly from the perusal of an elegant 
composition, which had been prepared in a few minutes, upon 
a theological subject, and upon which his views had been re- 
quired. 

On his return to Philadelphia, in 1765, he proceeded to his 
responsible charge in the neighbourhood, and settled in Had- 
donfield, N. J. With all that activity and great zeal, which 
were shown by him in every work to which his mind was 
directed, he entered upon the sacred duties of a Christian min- 
ister, and soon beheld the gratifying evidences of his accepta- 
bleness as a teacher in divine things. But he just lived long 
enough to show, by the excellent and amiable dispositions of 
his heart, the purity of hia morals, " the sublimity and sound- 
ness of his faith," and the warmth of his pulpit compositions, 
how well he was qualified for the sacred office to which he 
had wholly devoted himself. He died of consumption, Octo- 
ber 29th, 1767, in the twenty-sixth year of his age, lamented 
by all who were favoured with his acquaintance, and none 
more deeply and affectionately mourned over the bereavement, 
than the beloved people whom he had not yet served two years ! 

Evans, like his friend Godfrey, whose works he had edited, 
and published but a few days previous to his own decease, 
was cut off in the morning of life, and before that period when 
the powers of the human mind can fully develope themselves. 
Enough has been supplied, however, to show that his genius 
for poetry was not inferior to that of many who have earned 
a character in that department of literature. His " Ode on 
the Prospect of Peace," is not only indicative of this quality, 
but may be subjected to the closest critical examination ; we 
believe that its many beauties cannot fail in producing that 
admiration which it deserves. 



REV. NATHANIEL EVANS. 115 

His poems and other compositions were collected by Pro- 
vost Smith, and published in an octavo volume of two hundred 
pages, in the year 1772. 



What is said of the date and place of birth of Rev. Nathaniel Evans? 
Where was he educated ? 

What did his amiable disposition secure for him at the above institution? 
What business was he designed for by his parents ? 
What special honours did he receive shortly after his return to college ? 
For what object did he visit England ? 

By what society was he employed as a missionary, and to what station was 
he directed ? 
When did he dief 



AN ODE, 

Attempted in the manner of Horace, to my ingenious friend, 
Thomas Godfrey. 

" While you, dear Tom, are forc'd to roam, 
In search of fortune, far from home. 

O'er bogs, o'er seas and mountains ,* 
I too, debarr'd the soil retreat 
Of shady groves, and murmur sweet 

Of silver-prattling fountains, 

" Must mingle with the busthng throng, 
And bear my load of cares along. 

Like any other sinner : 
For, where 's the ecstasy in this, 
To loiter in poetic bliss. 

And go without a dinner ? 

" FlaccuSi we know, immortal bard 
With mighty kings and statesmen fared, 

And lived in cheerful plenty ; 
But now, in these degenerate days, 
The slight reward of empty praise 

Scarce one receives in twenty. 



116 BIOGRAPHY OF 

"AVell might the Roman swan, along 
The pleasing Tiber, pour his song, 

When blest with ease and quiet ; 
Oft did he grace Mrecenas' board. 
Who would for him throw by the lord, 

And in Falernian riot. 

" But, dearest Tom ! these days are past, 
And we are in a climate cast 

Where few the muse can relish ; 
Where all the doctrine now that's told. 
Is that a shining heap of gold 

Alone can man embellish. 

" Then since 'tis thus, my honest friend, 
If you be wise, my strain attend. 

And counsel sage adhere to : 
With me, henceforward, join the crowd. 
And like the rest proclaim aloud. 

That money is all virtue ! 

" Then may we both, in time, retreat 
To some fair villa, sweetly neat. 

To entertain the muses ; 
And then life's noise and trouble leave — 
Supremely blest, we'll never grieve 

At what the world refuses." 



PSALM CXXXVII., VERSIFIED. 

" 'Twas on the gentle brink reclin'd. 
Of fair Euphrates' murm'ring wave. 

When Zion's fate we call'd to mind. 
Salt tears our languid cheeks did lave. 



REV. NATHANIEL EVANS. H? 

" There, on the willows bending low, 

Our untunM joyless harps we hung ; 
For what but grief could from us flow, 

When unrelenting foes among ? 

" Ah ! how the victors mock'd our story, 

Exulting o'er our helpless state ; 
Sing now, said they, of Zion's glory. 

And, in your mirth, forget your fate. 

" How shall we joy in land profane. 
Or sound Jehovah''s matchless praise 1 

How sing the wonders of his reign, 
To those who slight celestial lays? 

" Rather than I, in evil hour, 

Should cease to think of Judah's wrong, 
May my right arm be void of pow'r. 

And dumb, for ever, be my tongue. 

" Let, O Lord, thy wrath in thunder, 

Speak devoted Edom's ruin ; 
Who athirst for blood and plunder, 

Work'd fair Judah's sad undoing. 

" And thou, O Babel ! doom'd to slaughter. 
With just return of sighs and groans ! 

Blest, who each infant son and daughter. 
Shall dash for thee against the stones." 



ELEGY 

To the Memory of my beloved friend, Thomas Godfrey, who died near 
Wilmington, North Carolina, August 3d, 1763. 

" Oh death ! thou victor of the human frame ! 
The soul's poor fabric trembles at thy name ! 



118 BIOGRAPHY OF 

How long shall man be urg'd to dread thy sway, 
For those whom thou untimely tak'st away ? 
Life's blooming spring just opens to our eyes, 
And strikes the senses with a sweet surprise, 
When thy fierce arm uplifts the fatal blow 
That hurls us breathless to the earth below. 

*' Sudden, as darts the lightning thro' the sky, 
Around the globe thy various weapons fly. 
Here war's red engines heap the field with slain, 
And pallid sickness there extends thy reign ; 
Here the soft virgin weeps her lover dead, 
There maiden beauty sinks the graceful head ; 
Here infants grieve their parents are no more. 
There rev'rend sires their children's death deplore; 
Here the sad friend — O I save the sacred name! 
Yields half his soul to thy relentless claim ; 
O pardon, pardon the descending tear ! 
Friendship commands, and not the muses here. 
O say, thou much lov'd dear departed shade. 
To what celestial region hast thou stray'd ? 
Where is that vein of thought, that noble fire 
Which fed thy soul, and bade the world admire I 
That manly strife with fortune to be just. 
That love of praise ? an honourable thirst ! 
The soul, alas ! has fled to endless day, 
And left its house a mould'ring mass of clay. 

" There, where no fears invade, nor ills molest. 
Thy soul shall dwell immortal with the blest ; 
In that bright realm, where dearest friends no more 
Shall from each other's throbbing breasts be tore, 
Where all those glorious spirits sit enshrin'd, 
The just, the good, the virtuous of mankind ; 
There shall fair angels in a radiant ring, 
And the great Son of heaven's eternal king. 



REV. NATHANIEL EVANS. 119 

Proclaim thee welcome to the blissful skies, 
And wipe the tears for ever from thy eyes. 



" How did we hope — alas ! the hope how vain ! 
To hear thy future more enripen'd strain ; 
When fancy's fire with judgment had combin'd 
To guide each efFort of th' enraptured mind. 
Yet are those youthful glowing lays of thine 
The emanations of a soul divine ! 
Who heard thee sing but felt sweet music's dart 
In thrilling transports pierce his captiv'd heart ? 
Whether soft melting airs attun'd thy song, 
Or pleas'd to pour the thund'ring verse along, 
Still nobly great, true offspring of the Nine, 
Alas I how blasted in thy glorious prime ! 
So, when first ope the eye-lids of the morn, 
A radiant purple does the heav'ns adorn. 
Fresh smiling glory streaks the skies around, 
And gaily silvers each enamel'd mound, 
Till some black storm o'erclouds the ether fair. 
And all its beauties vanish into air. 

" Stranger, whoe'er thou art, by fortune's hand 
Tost on the baneful Carolinian strand. 
Oh ! if thou seest perchance the Poet's grave. 
The sacred spot with tears of sorrow lave ; 
Oh ! shade it, shade it with ne'er- fading bays ; 
Hallowed 's the place where gentle Godfrey lays! 
(So may no sudden dart from death's dread bow 
Far from the friends thou lov'st e'er lay thee low) 
There may the weeping morn its tribute bring. 
And angels shield it with their golden wings, 
Till the last trump shall burst the womb of night, 
And the purg'd atoms to their soul unite !" 



120 BIOGRAPHY OF 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 

Born MDCCLXXVII — Died MDCCCIV. 

The life of this excellent divine and accomplished scholar, 
supplies a happy instance of the harmonious union of reli- 
gion with learning — of ardent piety with the pursuit of litera- 
ture. It affords an example that can be confronted with the 
mistaken opinion, that the acquisitions which intellectual re- 
search may gather, are adverse to the progress of spiritual 
improvement : whilst to the votary of the altar, as well as to 
the student in secular wisdom, there is given a strong en- 
couragement to employ to their full extent, those attributes of 
mind, and to obey those sacred impulses of the soul, which 
are alike the gift of an Heavenly Father. 

Indeed, the history of Christianity, from its first publication 
to the present period of its wide-spread extension, must con- 
vince the inquirer, that apart from the consideration of their 
having been the special subjects of divine favour, the labours 
of those, who most materially advanced the sacred cause of 
human salvation, were essentially aided by mental culture and 
improvement. Against the errors of unbelief, they contended 
in a majesty of strength, which a studious employment of 
their moral faculties could alone have enabled them to exer- 
cise. The weapons of infidel violence were accordingly 
broken in every assault against a power, which was armed 
with the wisdom of prophets and seers — of the good and great 
of this world. 

And well has the religion of our Saviour returned this aid, 
even to an hundred fold, which, in the early periods of her 
establishment, she derived from the learning of her noble de- 
fenders. Beyond that constant, illuminating influence which 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 121 

she lends to the mind of man, she has been the conservator 
of the recorded wisdom of the ages that had preceded her 
advent upon earth. In those centuries of the gospel era, when 
darkness had enwrapped the nations in midnight gloom, and 
beneath the humid vapours of which, the faculties of the mind 
were chilled and palsied, there were preserved, in the cloisters 
of her priests, the vast treasures of her intellectual wealth, 
which mighty spirits of yore had bequeathed to the world. It 
was only in the cells of her monastic institutions, that there 
could be found the relics of human learning ; and it was from 
these sacred recesses, that fresh energies were derived, which 
again impelled the mind to the onward course of improvement 
and knowledge. 

If then, the cultivation of literature be not incompatible 
with the holy office, but on the contrary, may be the means 
by which its duties will be rendered more efficient and accept- 
able, the instance, which our present subject affords, claims a 
more than passing notice. The reverend individual whose 
name is at the head of this article, was distinguished in his 
short, but useful life, not more for the accomplishments of his 
mind, than for his religious walk and conversation. With a 
piety which was signal in its fervour and permanence ; and 
with a zeal for the interest of the holy cause in which he had 
enlisted all the energies of his renewed heart, this excellent 
and faithful servant of the Most High, was no less the un- 
tiring student in the higher walks of literature. The pleasures 
which these pursuits afforded him, are thus beautifully ex- 
pressed by himself, in his introduction to his poem on the 
" Powers of Genius." " Literature," he observes, " next to 
religion, is the fountain of our greatest consolation and delight. 
Though it be a solemn truth, that the deepest erudition, dis- 
connected with religion, cannot enlighten the regions beyond 
the grave, or afford consolation on the bed of death ; yet, 
when united with religion, literature renders men more emi- 
nently useful ,• opens wider their intellect to the reception of 
11 



122 BIOGRAPHY OF 

divine light, banishes religious superstition, and bows the knee 
with purer adoration before the throne of God. Literature, 
on the rugged journey of hfe, scatters flowers ; it over- 
shadows the path of the weary, and refreshes the desert with 
its streams. He, who is prone to sensual pursuits, may seek 
his joy in the acquirement of silver and gold, and bury his 
affections with the treasure in his coffers. The noble soul, 
enlightened by genius and taste, looks far above these posses- 
sions. His riches are the bounty of knowledge ; his joys are 
those which wealth cannot purchase. He contemplates na- 
ture in her endless forms, and finds companions where men 
of different pursuits would experience the deepest solitude." 

It was through this cultivation of a refined taste, that Mr. 
Linn was enabled to present the sublime truths of religion 
on his entrance into the Christian ministry, in a form which 
excited attention, and captivated by its beauty. The congre- 
gation, over which he was placed, was distinguished for the 
intelligence of its members : who could properly appreciate 
the great worth and capacity of their spiritual director. He 
soon became endeared to them also, by the excellent qualities 
of his heart, and the sanctity of his life, whilst his piety 
gave evidence of the nearness of his walk with the Most 
High. He deservedly was placed among the first divines 
of his day ; and this honourable distinction was cheerfully 
awarded, since his great worth as a Christian man and 
scholar were universally acknowledged and valued. Through- 
out the great body of the communion to which he was 
attached, he enjoyed the esteem and love of his brethren in 
the ministry, as well as of the laity ; and his removal from 
this scene of his labours in the cause of a divine religion, was 
mourned by all, as an affliction of no common extent, to a 
bereaved church and society, of which he was an ornament. 

John Blair Linn was born in Shippensburg, Cumberland 
county, Pennsylvania, March 14th, 1777. He was de- 
scended from ancestors, who originally came from the Bri- 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 123 

tish Islands, and at an early period settled in the wilderness 
of the new world. They were respectable emigrants, distin- 
guished by their knowledge and piety, and for having sup- 
plied the church to which they are attached, with several 
worthy and useful ministers. 

Of the juvenile period of our subject's life, there is nothing 
remembered, except that he acquired the rudiments of edu- 
cation with much facility, and that the elements of the Latin 
language were mastered at an age earlier than common. In 
his ninth year, his father removed to New York, and he 
was placed at a school on Long Island. His preparatory- 
studies having been completed at this seminary, he was 
matriculated at Columbia College, and completed his educa- 
tion with much credit and honour, at the age of eighteen. 
During his college course, his genius evinced a strong ten- 
dency to polite literature ; and poetry and criticism became 
his darling studies. Before his seventeenth year, he had 
produced a number of poetic and prose pieces, which were 
published by him in a volume, which is said to contain no 
small merit. 

On the completion of his academic education, with the 
consent of his family, he chose the law for his profession, 
and was placed under the direction of Alexander Hamil- 
ton, Esq. The science of jurisprudence, however, had few 
charms for him, and at the end of the first year of his studies, 
he determ.ined to relinquish the pursuit. During this period, 
he had produced a dramatic piece, called " Bourville Castle," 
and its merit was such, that it was successively performed on 
the stage of New York, with decided approbation. 

But an event, in which the friends of religion have cause 
to rejoice, occurred immediately subsequent to the produc- 
tion of his drama. This was the expressed purpose of Mr. 
Linn, to devote the powers of his mind to the sacred ministry. 
Impressions of religion had been made upon a heart, which 
had always cherished a holy reverence for sacred things, and 



124 BIOGRAPHY OF 

he now cultivated with anxious soHcitude, the germ which 
had sprung up in his awakened bosom. It was tended with 
prayerful care; and the decision which it must be remem- 
bered was made by one of an ardent mind, to consecrate his 
life to the solemn duties of the altar, was adhered to, in a 
strength, which was derived from above, and in a devoted- 
ness that for ever after gave the evidence of unquestionable 
sincerity. 

In the prosecution of this sacred purpose, he withdrew to 
Schenectady, and placed himself under the care of the Rev. 
Dr. Romeyn, a professor of divinity in the Dutch Reformed 
Church. He now assiduously pursued the study of theology, 
and in the year 1798, was licensed to preach by the classis 
of Albany. His first exhibition in the character of a public 
teacher, was followed by the commendation of approving 
thousands, and he was immediately honoured with invitations 
from several vacant congregations. He finally accepted the 
charge of the First Presbyterian Church, in the city of Phi- 
ladelphia, and he was accordingly ordained and installed in 
June, 1799. 

With the greatest faithfulness and zeal, he fulfilled the va- 
rious parochial duties of his station, and soon secured the 
warm and affectionate regard of his people. He, however, 
never intermitted his literary labours, and within the first two 
years of his ministry, he produced a poem on the death of 
Washington, written in the style of Ossian ; and one entitled, 
" The Powers of Genius." This latter is considered the best 
of his works ; and so great was the approbation of the public, 
on its publication, that the first edition was exhausted in a 
few days. After his death, an unfinished production in verse, 
entitled, " Valerian," was given to the public by his admiring 
friends, in a quarto volume of ninety-six pages, to which is 
prefixed an excellent biography, by that accomplished writer, 
Charles Brockden Brown, Esq., who was connected with Dr. 
Linn, by marriage. 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 125 

In the year 1800, the insidious approach of death, through 
consumption, began to manifest itself to his admiring and 
affectionate friends ; and our amiable pastor, himself, was as- 
sured of the hasty strides of the destroyer. From his youth, 
he was haunted with a fatal conviction, that his life would be 
brief, and of all diseases, that of a pulmonary affection, he 
regarded with the greatest horror. The tokens were, alas, 
infallibly certain ! On the 13th of August, no unusual symp- 
toms of near dissolution appeared, but on the evening of that 
day he ruptured a blood-vessel, soon after he had retired. He 
was hardly able to call his family around him, before he ex- 
pired ; with the emphatic prayer, " Lord Jesus, pardon my 
transgressions, and receive my soul !" 



What is said of the union of religion with secular learning ? 

What is remarked by Dr. Linn in regard to literature ? 

Where and when was the doctor born ? 

What is said of his capacity for acquiring learning ? 

When did his family remove to New York, and at what college was our 
subject placed ? 

How old was he when he graduated ? 

What profession did he first choose, and under whom t 

What dramatic piece did he produce ? 

When his mind became impressed with the views of religion, what resolu- 
tion did he adopt ? 

Under what reverend gentleman did he pursue his purpose? 

To what congregation did he attach himself? 

What poems did he publish ? 

When did he die? 



THE POWERS OF GENIUS. 

" The human fabric, early from its birth 
Feels some fond influence from its parent earth : 
In different regions, different forms we trace, — 
Here dwells a feeble, there an iron race : 
Here genius lives and wakeful fancies play, 
Here noiseless stupor sleeps its life away. 
11* 



120 BIOGRAPHY OF 

A rugged race, the clifTs and mountains bear, 
They leap the precipice and breast the air. 
Follow the chamois on the pointed rock. 
And clamber heights to seek their bearded flock. 
Loud from the Baltic sounds the dreadful storm, 
And gathering hosts the face of day deform : 
Beneath their rage the soft Italian yields 
His boasted laurels and his blooming fields. 
The wandering Tartars by their rigorous land, 
Were led to war, to victory and command. 
While southern climes were sunk in deep repose, 
(An easy conquest to invading foes.) 
— Where spreads the quiet and luxuriant vale 
For ever fann'd by spring's ambrosial gale ; 
Where over pebbles runs the limpid rill. 
And woods o'ershade the wildly sloping hill : 
There roves the swain, all gentle and serene. 
And guards his sheep while browsing on the green. 
He leads the dance by Cynthia's silver light, 
And lulls with sport the dusky ear of night ; 
Breathes from his pipe the dulcet strain of love. 
And warbles Ellen, through the mead and grove. 
— In those drear climes where scorching suns prevail. 
And fever rides the tainted burning gale ; 
Where draws the giant snake his loathsome train. 
And poisons with his breath the yellow plain ; 
There languid Pleasure waves his gilded wings, 
And slothful ease the mental power unstrings. 
Where Iceland spreads her dark and frozen wild 
On whose fell snows no cheering sunbeam smiled, 
There, in their stormy, cold, and midnight cell, 
The cheerless fishermen with stupor dwell ; 
Wrapt in their furs they slumber life away. 
And mimic with their lamps the light of day. — 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 127 

Chill, through his trackless pines, the liunter pass'd, 
His yell arose upon the howling blast: 
Before him fled, with all the speed of fear. 
His wealth and victim, yonder helpless deer. 
Saw you the savage man, how fell and wild. 
With what grim pleasure as he pass'd, he smiled? 
Unhappy man ! a wretched wigwam's shed 
Is his poor shelter, some dry skins, his bed ; 
Sometimes, alone, upon the woodless height 
He strikes his fire and spends his watchful night ; 
His dog with howling bays the moon's red beam, 
And starts the wild deer in his nightly dream — 
Poor savage man, for him no yellow grain. 
Waves its bright billows o'er the fruitful plain ; 
For him, no harvest yields its full supply 
When Winter hurls his tempest through the sky. 
No joy he knows, but those which spring from strife. 
Unknown to him, the charms of social life. 
Rage, malice, envy, all his thoughts control, 
And every dreadful passion burns his soul. — 
Should culture meliorate his darksome home, 
And cheer those wilds where he is wont to roam j 
Beneath the hatchet should his forest fall. 
And the mild tabor warble through his hall, 
Should fields of tillage yield their rich increase, 
And through his wastes walk forth the arts of peace ; 
His sullen soul would feel a genial glow, 
Joy would break in upon the night of woe ; 
Knowledge would spread her mild, reviving ray, 
And on his wigwam, rise the dawn of day." 



128 BIOGRAPHY OF 



VALERIAN. 



" A holy bishop had from Carthage come, 
To cheer the courage of his friends at Rome ; 
His character, his goodness, and his rank, 
Made him an object of the heathen rage. 
A burst of voices from the frantic crowds 
Denounced his death. Around his house 
Gathered the fierce and raving multitude, 
Tore from his bed the venerable man. 
Dragged him exulting through the affrighted streets, 
Dashed him against the earth and craggy walls. 
And threw his mangled members to the flames. 
A lovely woman, of exalted rank. 
Who had renounced the idol gods of Rome, 
With a sweet infant clinging to her breast. 
With streaming hair, and garments rudely torn, 
Was dragged by ruffians in the public view, 
Was brutally insulted, scourged, and gashed ; 
While from her arms her little babe was torn, 
And by the pressure of a dungeon villain. 
Strangled, and stamped beneath the spurning foot. 

*' O pardon, sir, these tears, which still will flow ; 
I am a soldier, nor disdain to weep ; 
That holy matron who was thus destroyed 
Was my fond mother. Yes, I saw her die : 
I tried to save her, but I strove in vain. 
I, a late convert to the Christian faith. 
Escaped the dangers of that hateful night, 
But was reserved for further scenes of woe. 
My father still inflexibly remained 
Attached to heathen principles and rites. 
Whatever his will might be, he had no power 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 129 

To shield his wife or son from frantic foes. 

Finding no safety in his house, I fled ; 

I refuge sought in unfrequented ways, 

In narrow lanes : and at the dead of night, 

Stole like a felon from my lurking-place, 

In search of friends, who roved unhoused like me. 

" In one lone ramble through the silent streets, 
A passing soldier marked my hasty steps : 
He knew me, and commanded me to stop. 
Alarmed, I strove to disappoint his search ; 
But he rushed on, discovered where I was. 
And with his sword, unsheathed, aimed at my life. 
Forced to oppose his wild impetuous rage, 
I drew my sword, which in the night I wore, 
And in the encounter beat the brutal wretch, 
Bleeding and howling at my feet ; his cry 
Brought to his aid the nightly guards of Rome. 
I swiftly fled, and baffled their pursuit. 
The dying man pronounced my name, and bade 
His friends remember to avenge his death. 
Thus noted and proscribed, and like a beast, 
Hunted and followed by the hounds of blood, 
I could not long escape their eager search. 

" One night, within a large and vaulted cave, 
I, and two hundred Christians more, had met 
To hear explained the scriptures of our God ; 
To bend before his awful throne in prayer ; 
To share the joys of sympathetic hearts. 
Some happy hours had flown on us ; engaged 
In acts of worship, and in counsel there, 
When we were startled by the march of feet, 
By clashing arms, and voices near our cave. 
We had not time to fly, before the mouth 



130 BIOGRAPHY OF 

or our rude cavern was by soldiers closed, 

And some fierce bands rush'd in with spears and swords, 

And then commenced the dreadful work of death. 

The small defence which we could make was vain, 

And vain our supplications to our foes. 

The voice of prayer and praise, was now exchanged 

For shrieks of torture, and for dying groans ; 

Late, where the broken bread and wine were spread. 

The emblems of a bleeding Saviour's love. 

Streamed the warm blood, and fell the mangled limb, 

" Sometime, had Slaughter rioted and raged. 
When I, contending in the face of death. 
In hopes that darkness might afford escape. 
Flew to the places where the lamps were hung, 
Dashed them to the earth, extinguished all their light. 
Shrouded in night, and in a cave immured, 
The Roman soldiers could not now discern 
Their friends from foes : wild uproar now arose ; 
Confusion fell upon the heathen fiends ; 
They poured down blows upon each other's heads, 
And in mistake, they one another slew : 
A night more terrible I never saw. 
I, purposing escape, in silence crept 
Along the walls, until I reached the door : 
Then calling to my friends, I bade them seize 
The present time of flight, and follow me : 
And springing upwards, o'er the flight of stairs, 
I gained the street, and saw the moon and stars. 
Scarce had I time to breathe, and look around. 
When I was seized by the patrolling guards. 
Was bound with heavy chains, and then was thrown 
In a deep dungeon, cold, damp as the grave. 
Excluded there from light or human voice, 
I lay some weeks, and would have welcomed death ; 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 131 

I had but little food, and that was coarse, 
And such as hunger only would receive. 

" One day I heard my prison doors unbarred 
And hailed it as the sound preceding death ; 
But was surprised to see my keeper followed 
By a patrician magistrate of Rome. 
He came, he said, to rescue me from woe, 
To lead me forth to liberty and life. 
If I would meet compliantly his terms. 
And render homage to the gods of Rome. 
Young man, said he, the emperor is kind, 
And sends you mercy at your father's prayer. 
If you renounce the Christian name and faith, 
Honours await you, you shall roll in wealth. 
In all the splendours of patrician rank ; 
But if you still to Christians vile adhere. 
And thus forget your father, birth, and king. 
Now nearly numbered are your days of life : 
Hear, then, and weigh the doom, the foul disgrace, 
Which you will bring upon your wretched head, 
By persevering in your headlong course : 
The king designs to give a splendid feast 
To his victorious soldiers and his friends. 
And to conclude the pleasures of the day 
By exhibitions on the stage at night. 
These royal exhibitions shall consist 
Of men contending with fierce hungering beasts. 
Of gladiators skilled in arts of war. 
Hear, then, and tremble : 'tis great Nero's will 
That those who meet the lion in his wrath 
Should be selected from the Christian herd, 
Those enemies of Rome, and of the gods : 
And you, Valerian, if you still refuse 
To offer incense to the gods of Rome, 



132 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Shall, in the view of clamorous multitudes, 
War with the lion, or the savage boar, 
And with your dying pangs feast the dark eye 
Of Riot and of Joy. Think then, O youth. 
Before the day of sovereign grace is past ; 
Renounce the errors of a wretched sect. 
And fill with joy an aged father's heart. 

" I heard his overtures, and thus replied : 
Bear back my answer to the king you serve 
And tell it to the priests and slaves of Rome, 
That you have seen Valerian in his cell, 
Of birth as noble as proud Rome can boast. 
Chained to the cold ground, like the vilest wretch 
Buried in filth, in solitude, and night. 
Pale and worn down, denied the use of food ; 
But that you found him rooted in his faith. 
Resolved to brave your haughty tyrant's power. 
And all the pangs his cruelty can form ; 
Resolved to die and feast the heathen wolves. 
Before he would renounce the truths he holds. 
Or worship any being but his God. 
Tell also to the sovereign of the world, 
That, though I die, I supplicate his favour 
For these poor Christians whom I leave behind; 
That he would stay the persecuting sword 
Which riots in their blood. They never did him harm ; 
Peaceful are they, and, seeking peace of men. 
They follow in the footsteps of their Lord, 
And pay to Caesar what to him is due. 
All that they claim is liberty to serve 
Their God and Saviour, as they shall think best. 
The world holds not a nobler race of men, 
A race more faithful to the God they own, 
A race more fervent in their country's cause. 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 133 

Tell to my father, that his son forgives 
His coldness and neglect, and that he dies 
In prayers for blessings on his reverend head. 
O tell him that this heart beats high with love 
For him who gave me birth, and longs to pour 
Its hopes, its cares, its sorrows in his breast. 

** The Roman magistrate withdrew in wrath. 
He bade me speedily prepare for death, 
To sate the hunger of the beast of prey. 
He bade my keeper give me better food, 
To nurse my strength against the day of combat, 
That I might grapple bravely with my foe. 
My father came, in pity to my wish, 
To bid his wretched son a last farewell. 
He wept, he press'd me to his bursting heart, 
Conjured me by the love I bore to him. 
By the dear memory of her who died 
A sainted victim to the cause of Christ. 
To seek not thus a vile and wretched end. 
But to renounce the faith 1 had embraced. 
And live again in happiness and peace. 
But all his prayers and all his tears were vain ; 
My resolution nothing could subdue. 
Rather to meet ten thousand deaths than blast 
The truths I loved, my fervent hopes of heaven. 
* * * * * * # 

"At length the dreadful night of trial came. 
Clad in light armour, I by force was dragged 
From my loathed dungeon, and compelled to meet 
The hateful shouts of eager, gazing crowds. 
Behold me then upon a public stage. 
Mocked and insulted, and expecting death. 

" At signal given, with loud and horrid bound, 
A lion leaps before my view : his eyes 
12 



134 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Like kindled fires glare frightfully on me ; 
His hairy sides he lashes with his tail ; 
And, couching down, he pours his chilling cry 
Of hunger and of rage ; aroused I start 
From my sad trance, and in defence I rush 
Against a foe so terrible and fierce. 

" Soon as he feels the edge of my keen sword 
His rage redoubles, and his hideous roar 
Deafens the ear, and shakes the vaulted walls; 
He waves the terrors of his hoary mane. 
Collecting all his might, at me he leaps> 
And with extended claws threatens to tear 
My quivering members piecemeal on the stage.. 
I start aside and disappoint his rage, 
And, aided by the gracious arm of Heaven, 
Ere he recovers from his bound misspent, 
I plunge my weapon in his panting heart. 
The mighty savage falls and rolls in blood, 
He gasps and struggles in the pangs of death, 
Loud shouts of exultation rend the air, 
A thousand voices bid the conqueror live. 

" The emperor listens to the generous wish : 
At his command, the guards conduct me back. 
To my dark cell, there to remain and wait 
The will and pleasure of my vengeful foes. 
I met again Coelestian, my kind friend. 
Whose life, till now, his enemies had spared:. 
He welcomed me as risen from the tomb. 
And come to haunt his solitude : he scarce 
Would listen to my tale, or grant belief 
To my escape from danger and from death. 

"Excuse me, friends, if I should draw the veil 
O'er the new sufferings of my prison-house. 



REV. JOHN BLAIR LINN. 135 

With heavy wing the long and tardy days 

PassM o'er my dungeon ; still I cherished hope; 

At length arose the dawn of better days, 

And freedom came to bless my weary eyes. 

My father's bribe seduced the keeper's heart, 

And he consented to unlock the doors, 

And let Ccelestian and myself depart, 

While slept the guards, and night had hushed the world. 

" Escaped from prison, I and my new friend 
Resolved to fly for ever from those shores 
Where liberty of conscience was denied. 
Where God was worshipped midst the fears of death. 
Disguised, by night, to Ostia's port we came, 
And meeting there with several Christian friends 
Who there had gathered with the same design, 
A vessel we obtained, in which we all 
Embarked, and left the walls of haughty Rome, 
Our fields, our country, and our friends behind. 
And guided by Coelestian on our way. 
We turned our sails towards these far-eastern climes, 
The most remote from Roman rage and power." 



136 BIOGRAPHY OF 

CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 

Born MDCCLXXI — Died MDCCCX. 

The distinguished honour belongs to Pennsylvania, of re- 
cording among her eminent children, the name of the first 
professional author in America. Many of her illustrious sons 
had previously secured for themselves no small measure of 
renown, for their discoveries in science, or their attainments 
in literature ; and the tribute which was freely rendered to 
them, was not more flattering than it was deserved. Yet the 
results of their wisdom and genius were given to the world, 
amid pursuits, not only distinct from those of such as wholly 
devote their faculties and time to the pen, but which are often 
adverse to the prosecution of subjects that require an undi- 
vided and special attention. Among their pressing avocations, 
they, however, seized every occasion for improving their own 
knowledge and that of mankind, in whatever was beneficial 
or elevating ; and, within the forest-wilds of the new world, 
there were not wanting those who would have adorned the 
venerable halls of learning in Europe. Yet the circumstances 
by which they were surrounded, would not permit an entire 
dedication of their great powers to letters or science, whilst 
the demands of the reading portion of the colonists were too 
moderate to warrant an experiment in authorship as a pro- 
fession. 

The charge brought against our nation, by transatlantic 
writers, that we have had but few authors among us, is made 
without a due consideration of those reasons which fully ex- 
plain the causes of this deficiency. On the first settlement 
of our country, and for a long time subsequent, the energies 
of the people were wholly directed to the realizing of that 
competency, or wealth, which had induced them to leave the 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 137 

eastern hemisphere. Their object was to secure a property, 
which should repay them for their enterprise and labours : 
and whilst in the pursuit of it, they neglected such branches 
of learning as were not immediately required to qualify them 
for the acquisition of gain. In preparing the wilderness for 
cultivation, or in converting forests into towns, they found 
none of that leisure, so essential to the student, nor had they 
access to those libraries, the value of which the scholar can 
so well estimate. It was a period, when amid the bustle and 
activity, which can easily be imagined to have everywhere 
prevailed, secular learning could not advantageously be pro- 
secuted ; and, although its necessity and worth may have 
been acknowledged, yet its possession was regarded as im- 
practicable, especially as to its higher branches. 

Another cause of this deficiency can be found in the nature 
of our civil institutions, or rather in the demands made upon 
the early settlers for their preparation and establishment. An 
experiment in government was to be made, and that it should 
be successful, the abilities and services of the learned were 
called into action. Minds, of a high order, and capable of 
reaching the loftiest rank in most of the departments of litera- 
ture, were however, confined to the arduous task of legislating 
for a new empire, having new principles of government in its 
constitution, and requiring a new code of laws for its protec- 
tion. Accordingly, all who were gifted with talents that had 
been improved by the advantages of education, beheld before 
them a sure and certain road of honourable preferment, which, 
if it did not lead to the summit of literary glory, had, how- 
ever, its allurements and recompense in the opinions of many, 
who have well merited the character which has been rendered 
to the statesmen of our land. 

Under the influence of such causes, it was not to be ex- 
pected that all the refinements of learning would be the aim 
of a people thus placed within the control of circumstances, 
which could not, at once, be destroyed. Native genius had 
12* 



138 BIOGRAPHY OF 

done much, in a comparatively brief period, to elevate th6 
character of our country ; and science and philosophy had 
numbered as their disciples in America, those whos^ names 
are recorded as upon eternal brass. But the peculiar condi- 
tion of a large portion of the people prevented the bestowal of 
that notice and patronage, which are required in matters purely 
of mental production. 

The enterprising courage which could impel an individual, 
under these untoward circumstances, to rest not only his fame, 
but daily support, upon a profession which had never before 
been pursued among us, must have been of no common cha- 
racter. It has the strongest claims for admiration and re- 
spect ; and these will be increased, when it is remembered, 
that the requisite qualifications were possessed by the subject 
of this article to no limited extent. His scholarship was highly 
respectable, and his genius has deservedly placed him in the 
front rank of our writers. The cast of his mind was highly 
imaginative, and the creations of his vivid fancy often partake 
of genuine poetry, and are always embodied in the fervent, 
glowing language of a heart that must have throbbed in unison 
with the impassioned and startling incidents which his pen 
has so strongly traced. Many of these have called forth ex- 
pressions of admiration from the sternest critics, and in no 
humble scale of merit has his name been placed among the 
writers of fiction and polite literature. 

There is, however, a recommendation, which the works of 
Brown possess, that constitutes, in the view of the moralist, 
their chief merit. Although beautiful specimens of that spe- 
cies of writing, and of the greatest interest as well of power, 
to awaken and sustain the attention and feelings, yet his sen- 
timents and language have nothing of a licentious tendency. 
His admirers have nothing to fear as to the verdict which may 
be passed in respect to an improper influence upon the heart 
of the reader. The productions of his fancy, however, will 
richly repay, by their many beauties and thrilling incidents, 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 139 

a frequent perusal, whilst his moral and literary essays cannot 
fail in improving the mind, or aiding the heart in its practice 
of virtue. 

Charles Brockden Brown was born in Philadelphia, 
January 17th, 1771. His ancestors were very respectable, 
and connected with the Society of Friends. At the earliest 
period of his life, he showed an inclination for books, and 
when eleven years of age, was placed under the tuition of 
Robert Proud, favourably known as the writer of the History 
of Pennsylvania. From this excellent preceptor he acquired 
a knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, together with 
the various branches of an English education. Even during 
this period he produced a few poetical pieces of some merit, 
which were communicated to the public through the journals 
of that day. 

On completing his education he commenced the study of 
the law, but in a short time abandoned the idea of making it 
a professional pursuit. His inextinguishable love of letters 
would not allow his mind to be devoted to what he considered 
a dry and laborious study ; and after much anxious reflection, 
upon the means of future subsistence, he determined to try the 
career of an author. After producing a few works, of no 
great extent, or merit sufficient to awaken much interest, he 
published, in 1798, Wieland, a romance, which exhibits, in 
a remarkable degree, the powerful workings of passion, ex- 
cited through the influence of a mysterious agency. The 
scene is laid in Pennsylvania, and throughout the work, there 
are examples of a full capacity for this species of composition, 
and which show that our writer had not mistaken his powers, 
nor the tendency of his genius. 

In 1799, he produced his second novel, entitled Ormonde 
in which he exhibits the force and excellence of female virtue 
in overcoming the assaults of adversity, and the seducing 
blandishments of temptation. In the same year he published 
his third novel, Arthur Mervyn, or Memoirs of the year 1793. 



140 BIOGRAPHY OF 

The scene of the story is laid in Philadelphia, at the time of 
theawful visitation of the yellow fever; and the whole work is 
remarkable for a frightful fidelity of colouring, and in the 
thrilling narration of many horrible incidents of that terrific 
pestilence. This was soon followed by his beautiful work, 
Edgar Huntley, or the Adventures of a Sleep- Walker, which 
in many respects, may be considered his best production in this 
line of writing. 

About this time, he commenced a periodical, entitled The 
Monthly Magazine and American Review ; a publication, 
which, although of brief existence, gave the strongest evi- 
dences of the editor's extensive acquaintance with ornamental 
literature and criticism. In 1800, he produced the second 
part o^ Arthur Mervyn, and in the succeeding year his novel 
of Clara Howard. The last of his series of romances was 
Jane Talbot, first printed in England, and republished here 
in 1804. 

In 1803, he became the editor of a periodical, called The 
Literary Magazine and Amei'ican Register ; and continued 
publishing it, with much credit, until 1809. It is due to our 
author that an extract be given from the plan which he an- 
nounced, as that upon which his publication should be con- 
ducted. 

" In an age like this, when the foundations of religion and 
morality have been so boldly attacked, it seems necessary, in 
announcing a work of this nature, to be particularly explicit 
as to the path which the editor means to pursue. He, there- 
fore, avows himself to be, without equivocation or reserve, 
the ardent friend and the willing champion of the Christian 
religion. Christian piety he reveres as the highest excellence 
of human beings ; and the amplest reward he can seek for 
his labour, is the consciousness of having, in some degree, 
however inconsiderable, contributed to recommend the prac- 
tice of religious duties. As in the conduct of this work, a 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 141 

supreme regard will be paid to the interests of religion and 
morality, he will scrupulously guard against all that dis- 
honours and impairs that principle. Every thing that savours 
of indelicacy or licentiousness will be rigorously proscribed. 
His poetical pieces may be dull, but they shall at least be free 
from voluptuousness or sensuality ; and his prose, whether 
seconded or not by genius and knowledge, shall scrupulously 
aim at the promotion of public and private virtue." 

Besides these professional labours, Mr. Brown contributed a 
large number of essays, in literature and politics, to the Port 
Folio, and other periodicals of the day. Among other occa- 
sional productions, are two pamphlets, on subjects of a politi- 
cal character, and which excited much interest on their 
appearance. A beautiful biographical sketch of his brother- 
m-law, the Rev. Dr. J. B. Linn, appended to the poem entitled 
Valerian, by the latter, was also supplied by him, and is a 
splendid specimen of that kind of composition, 

A constitution, which from infancy was feeble, was ren- 
dered still more so, by his great application to the duties of 
his profession. In the year 1809, his health visibly declined, 
and gave mournful evidences that it was fatally impaired. He 
continued, however, with the same assiduity which had al- 
ways characterized him, in his literary pursuits. The pros- 
pect of approaching dissolution did not alarm him ; but in 
Christian calmness he spoke of the event as one which, for 
him, had no terrors. His mind, fortified by the principle of 
our Divine faith, contemplated the grave without dread ; whilst 
the hopes of the Christian enabled him to look beyond it, with 
serene joy and delight. On the 22d of February, 1810, this 
accomplished scholar and sincere Christian expired, in the 
thirty-ninth year of his age. 

His works of fiction have been published in eight volumes, 
by Mr. Dunlap, of New York, who has also favoured the 
public with an interesting biography of his esteemed friend, 
in two octavo volumes. 



142 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Who was C. B. Brown, and when was he born ? 
From what respectable teacher did he receive his education ? 
To what department of literature did he devote his attention? 
What is the order in which his productions appeared? 
What was his undertaking in 1803 ? 
What is the moral character of his works ? 
When did he die ? 

Who was his biographer, and in how many volumes are his productions 
contained ? 



EXTRACT.—" WIELAND." 

" She returned with a light ; I led the way to the chamber; 
she looked round her ; she lifted the curtain of the bed ; she 
saw nothing. At length she fixed inquiring eyes upon me. 
The light now enabled her to discover in my visage what 
darkness had hitherto concealed. Her cares were now trans- 
ferred from my sister to myself, and she said in a tremulous 
voice, ' Wieland ! you are not well ; what ails you ? Can I 
do nothing for yon?' That accents and looks so winning 
should disarm me of my resolution, was to be expected. My 
thoughts were thrown anew into anarchy. I spread my hand 
before my eyes, that I might not see her, and answered only 
by groans. She took my other hand between hers, and, 
pressing it to her heart, spoke with that voice which had ever 
swayed my will and wafted away sorrow. ' My friend ! my 
soul's friend ! tell me the cause of thy grief. Do I not merit 
to partake with thee in thy cares? Am I not thy wife?' 

" This was too much. I broke from her embrace, and re- 
tired to a corner of the room. In this pause, courage was 
once more infused into me. I resolved to execute my duty. 
She follo\ved me, and renewed her passionate entreaties to 
know the cause of my distress. 

" I raised my head and regarded her with steadfast looks. 
I muttered something about death, and the injunctions of my 
duty- At these words she shrunk back, and looked at me 



CHARLES BROCKDEN. BROWN. 143 

With a new expression of anguish. After a pause, she clasped 
her hands, and exclaimed, — 

" ' Wieland ! Wieland ! God grant that I am mistaken ; 
but surely something is wrong.. I see it ; it is too plain; thou 
art undone, — lost to me and to thyself.' At the same time 
she gazed on my features with intensest anxiety, in hope that 
different symptoms would take place. I replied with vehe- 
mence, — ' Undone ! No ; my duty is known, and I thank my 
God that my cowardice is now vanquished, and I have power 
to fulfil it. Catharine ! I pity the weakness of nature ; I pity 
thee, but must not spare. Thy life is claimed from ray hands ; 
thou must die !' 

" Fear was now added to her grief. '■What mean you ? 
why talk you of death 1. Bethink yourself, Wieland ; bethink 
yourself, and this fit will pass. O why came I hither ! Why 
did you drag me hither V 

" ' I brought thee hither, to fulfil a divine command. I am 
appointed thy destroyer, and destroy thee I must.' Saying 
this, I seized her wrists. She shrieked aloud, and endea- 
voured to free herself from my grasp ; but her efforts wers 
vain. 

" ' Surely, surely, Wieland, thou dost not mean it. Am f 
not thy wife ? and wouldst thou kill me ? Thou wilt not ; 
and yet — I see — thou art Wieland no longer ! A fury resist- 
Less and horrible possesses thee — spare me — spare — help — 
help—.' 

" Till her breath was stopped she shrieked for help, — for 
mercy. When she could speak no longer, her gestures, her 
looks appealed to my compassion. My accursed hand was 
irresolute and tremulous. I meant thy death to be sudden, 
thy struggles to be brief. Alas ! my heart was infirm ; my 
resolves mutable. Thrice I slackened my grasp, and life kept 
its hold, though in the midst of pangs. Her eye-balls started 
from their sockets. Grimness and distortion took place of 



144 BIOGRAPHY OF 

all that used to bewitch me into transport, and subdue me into 
reverence. 

** I was commissioned to kill thee, but not to torment thee 
with the foresight of thy death ; not to multiply thy fears, and 
prolong thy agonies. Haggard, and pale, and lifeless, at 
length thou ceasedst to contend with thy destiny. 

" This was a moment of triumph. Thus had I successfully 
subdued the stubbornness of human passions; the victim 
which had been demanded was given ; the deed was done 
past recall. 

" I lifted the corpse in my arms and laid it on the bed. I 
gazed upon it with delight. Such was the elation of my 
thoughts, that I even broke into laughter. I clapped my hands 
and exclaimed, * It is done ! My sacred duty is fulfilled. 
To that I have sacrificed, O my God ! thy last and best gift, 
my wife !' 

" For a while I thus soared above frailty. I Imagined I had 
set myself for ever beyond the reach of selfishness ; but my 
imaginations were false. This rapture quickly subsided. I 
looked again at my wife. My joyous ebullitions vanished, 
and I asked myself who it was whom I saw. Methought it 
could not be Catharine. It could not be the woman who had 
lodged for years in my heart ; who had slept nightly in my 
bosom ; who had borne in her womb, who had fostered at her 
breast, the beings who called me father ; whom I had watched 
with delight, and cherished with a fondness ever new, and 
perpetually growing ; it could not be the same. 

" Where was her bloom 1 These deadly and blood-suf- 
fused orbs but ill resemble the azure and ecstatic tenderness of 
her eyes. The lucid stream that meandered over that bosom, 
the glow of love that was wont to sit upon that cheek, are 
much unlike these livid stains, and this hideous deformity. 
Alas ! these were the traces of agony ; the gripe of the assas- 
sin had been there. 

*' 1 will not dwell upon my lapse into desperate and out- 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. -145 

rageous sorrow. The breath of heaven that sustained me 
was withdrawn, and I sunk into mere man. I leaped from 
the floor; I dashed my head against the wall; I uttered 
screams of horror ; I panted after torment and pain. Eternal 
fire, and the bickerings of hell, compared with what I felt, 
were music and a bed of roses. 

" I thank my God that this degeneracy was transient, that 
he deigned once more to raise me aloft. I thought upon what 
I had done as a sacrifice to duty, and was calm. My wife 
was dead ; but I reflected, that though this source of human 
consolation was closed, yet others were still open. If the 
transports of a husband were no more, the feelings of a father 
had still scope for exercise. When remembrance of their 
mother should excite too keen a pang, I would look upon them 
and he comforted. 

" While I revolved these ideas, new warmth flowed in upon 
my heart. I was wrong. These feelings were the growth 
of selfishness. Of this I was not aware, and to dispel the 
mist that obscured my perceptions, a new effulgence and a 
new mandate were necessary. 

*' From these thoughts I was recalled by a ray that was 
shot into the room. A voice spake like that which I had be- 
fore heard, — ' Thou hast done well ; but all is not done — the 
sacrifice is incomplete — thy children must be offered — they 
must perish with their mother.' " 



EXTRACT. — " EDGAR HUNTL Y." 

" While occupied with these reflections, my eyes were fixed 
upon the opposite steeps. The tops of the trees, waving to 
and fro, in the wildest commotion, and their trunks, occasion- 
ally bending to the blast, which in these lofty regions blew 
with a violence unknown in the tracts below, exhibited an 
awful spectacle. At length my attention was attracted by the 
13 



146 BIOGRAPHY OF 

trunk which lay across the gulf, and which I had converted 
into a bridge. I perceived that it had already swerved some- 
what from its original position, that every blast broke or 
loosened some of the fibres by which its roots were connected 
with the opposite bank, and that, if the storm did not speedily 
abate, there was imminent danger of its being torn from the 
rock and precipitated into the chasm. Thus my retreat would 
be cut off, and the evils, from which I was endeavouring to 
rescue another, would be experienced by myself. 

" I believed my destiny to hang upon the expedition with 
which I should recross this gulf. The moments that were 
spent in these deliberations were critical, and I shuddered to 
observe that the trunk was held in its place by one or two 
fibres, which were already stretched almost to breaking. 

" To pass along the trunk, rendered slippery by the wet, 
and unsteadfast by the wind, was eminently dangerous. To 
maintain my hold in passing, in defiance of the whirlwind, 
required the most vigorous exertions. For this end it was 
necessary to discommode myself of my cloak, and of the 
volume which I carried in the pocket of my cloak. 

" Just as I had disposed of these encumbrances, and had 
risen from my seat, my attention was again called to the op- 
posite steep, by the most unwelcome object that at this time 
could possibly occur. Something was perceived moving along 
the bushes and rocks, which for a time I hoped was no more 
than a racoon or opossum, but which presently appeared to 
be a panther. His grey coat, extended claws, fiery eyes, and 
a cry which he at that moment uttered, and which, by its re- 
semblance to the human voice, is peculiarly terrific, denoted 
him to be the most ferocious and untameable of that detested 
race. The industry of our hunters has nearly banished ani- 
mals of prey from these precincts. The fastnesses of Nor- 
walk, however, could not but afTord refuge to some of them. 
Of late I had met them so rarely that my fears were seldom 
alive, and I trod without caution the ruggedest and most soli- 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 147 

fary haunts. Still, however, I had seldom been unfurnished 
in my rambles with the means of defence. 

"The unfrequency with which I had lately encountered 
this foe, and the encumbrance of provision, made me neglect 
on this occasion, to bring with me my usual arms. The 
beast that was now before me, when stimulated by hunger, 
was accustomed to assail whatever could provide him with a 
banquet of blood. He would set upon the man and the deer 
with equal and irresistible ferocity. His sagacity was equal 
to his strength, and he seemed able to discover when his 
antagonist was armed and prepared for defence. 

" My past experience enabled me to estimate the full ex- 
tent of my danger. He sat on the brow of the steep, eyeing 
the bridge, and apparently deliberating whether he should 
cross it. It was probable that he had scented my footsteps 
thus far, and, should he pass over, his vigilance could scarcely 
fail of detecting my asylum. 

"Should he retain his present station, my danger was 
scarcely lessened. To pass over in the face of a famished 
tiger was only to rush upon my fate. The falling of the 
trunk, which had lately been so anxiously deprecated, was 
now, with no less solicitude, desired. Every new gust, I 
hoped, would tear asunder its remaining bands, and by cut- 
ting off all communication between the opposite steeps, place 
me in security. My hopes, however, were destined to be 
frustrated. The fibres of the prostrate tree were obstinately 
tenacious of their hold, and presently the animal scrambled 
down the rock, and proceeded to cross it. 

" Of ail kinds of death, that which now menaced me was 
the most abhorred. To die by disease, or by the hand of a 
fellow-creature, was propitious and lenient, in comparison 
with being rent to pieces by the fangs of this savage. To 
perish in this obscure retreat, by means so impervious to the 
anxious curiosity of my friends ; to lose my portion of exist- 
ence by so untoward and ignoble a destiny, was insupport- 



148 BIOGRAPHY OF 

able. I bitterly deplored my rashness in coming hither 
unprovided for an encounter like this. 

" The evil of my present circumstances consisted chiefly 
in suspense. My death was unavoidable, but my imagina- 
tion had leisure to torment itself by anticipations. One foot 
of the savage was slowly and cautiously moved after the 
other. He struck his claws so deeply into the bark that they 
were with difficulty withdrawn. At length he leaped upon 
the ground. We were now separated by an interval of 
scarcely eight feet. To leave the spot where I crouched 
was impossible. Behind and beside me, the cliff rose per- 
pendicularly, and before me was this grim and terrible visage. 
I shrunk still closer to the ground and closed my eyes. 

" From this pause of horror I was aroused by the noise 
occasioned by a second spring of the animal. He leaped 
into the pit, in which I had so deeply regretted that I had 
not taken refuge, and disappeared. My rescue was so sud- 
den, and so much beyond my belief or my hope, that I 
doubted for a moment whether my senses did not deceive 
me. This opportunity of escape was not to be neglected. I 
left my place, and scrambled over the trunk with a precipi- 
tation which had like to have proved fatal. The tree groaned 
and shook under me, the wind blew with unexampled vio- 
lence, and I had scarcely reached the opposite steep when 
the roots were severed from the rock, and the whole fell 
thundering to the bottom of the chasm. 

" My trepidations were not speedily quieted. I looked 
back with wonder on my hair-breadth escape, and on that 
singular concurrence of events, which had placed me, in so 
short a period, in absolute security. Had the trunk fallen a 
moment earlier, I should have been imprisoned on the hill, 
or thrown headlong. Had its fall been delayed another mo- 
ment, I should have been pursued ; for the beast now issued 
from his den, and testified his surprise and disappointment, 
by tokens, the sight of which made my blood run cold. 



CHARLES BROCKDEN BROWN. 149 

" He saw me, and hastened to the verge of the chasm. He 
squatted on his hind legs, and assumed the attitude of one 
preparing to leap. My consternation was excited afresh by 
these appearances. It seemed, at first, as if the rift was too 
wide for any power of muscles to carry him in safety over ; 
but I knew the unparalleled agility of this animal, and that 
his experience had made him a better judge of the practica- 
bility of this exploit than I was. 

" Still there was hope that he would relinquish this design 
as desperate. This hope was quickly at an end. He sprung, 
and his fore-legs touched the verge of the rock on which I 
stood. In spite of vehement exertions, however, the surface 
was too smooth and too hard to allow him to make good his 
hold. He fell, and a piercing cry uttered below, showed that 
nothing had obstructed his descent to the bottom." 



WILLIAM RAWLE, LL. D. 

Born MDCCLIX — Died MDCCCXXXVI. 

" William Rawle was born in Philadelphia on the twenty- 
eighth day of April, 1759, of honourable and distinguished 
parentage, of the society of Friends ; yet their proudest distinc- 
tion, I say it with no disparagement, was in giving birth to such 
a son. The earlier years of his life were passed in the acquisi- 
tion of the rudiments of education, and those sublime principles 
of elevated morality and religion, which were, in after times, 
matured into the most devout and exemplary piety. At the 
age of nineteen, having passed through the various stages of 
preliminary instruction in his native land, and having for 
some years been engaged in prosecuting his legal studies 
under Counsellor Kemp, a learned and distinguished jurist 
of our sister city of New Yorkj just before the conclusion of 
13* 



150 BIOGRAPHY OF 

the American r^volQtiqn, he visited the mother country for 
the purpose of perfecting himself in the arduous duties of the 
profession for which he was designed. In London, he was 
regularly installed a templar, and there pursued his studies 
with that untiring assiduity which ever signally marked his 
career through a subsequent brilliant practice of more than 
half a century. Had he remained in Europe, what scope is 
there for speculation as to the heights he would have real- 
ized ! In such a realm, is it venturing too far to say, that a 
coronet was not above his grasp] What was there in the 
pretensions of a Copley, and many others, who have been 
raised to the peerage as the reward of merit, beyond the 
compass of his mind? What was there in their birth or 
early hopes that lent stronger claims to advancement ? What 
was there in their morals or their manners more exemplary 
or resistless ? 

" After completing his legal studies, and visiting most of 
the cities of Europe, in the year 1783, he returned to this 
country, full of zeal and hope, a most thorough and accom- 
plished gentleman, a ripe and elegant scholar, an artist, a 
poet, a philosopher ; and, without which, all other accom- 
plishments are but dross — a Christian. What a beautiful 
moral and intellectual picture does such a man at such an age 
present ! 

' How must his worth be seeded in his age, 
When thus his virtues bud before their spring.' 

" In person he was rather above the middle height, yet so 
symmetrical in his proportions as by no means to produce 
that impression in a casual beholder. In his early life, he 
must have been eminently handsome, for even at the age of 
seventy-seven years, when he died, his features, and the whole 
contour and expression of his face were such as to inspire 
every one with the strongest veneration and regard. The 
formation of the upper part of his head, which rose like a 



WILLIAM RAWLE. 151 

tower, was such as might delight and fascinate the phrenolo- 
gist ; but it is to the internal structure of the man that our 
attention is to be directed, and to that all must rejoice to turn. 

"He returned to his home-— his native land — with the 
fidelity of an untravelled heart. He launched, at once, into 
the busy and tumultuous tide of a diversified professional life. 
He took his post where nature and education both placed him, 
in the very front rank of the profession. He maintained hig 
ground with such men as Lewis, and Wilson, and Tilghman, 
and Ingersoll, and Dallas, and gathered, in his forensic career, 
* golden opinions from all sorts of people.' There never was 
a more enlightened and unblemished advocate, or a more con- 
scientious and valuable citizen than the subject of this memoir. 

" It is a remarkable and beautiful indication of the urbanity 
of his deportment, and the affectionate regard entertained for 
him by the members of the bar, that in fifty years, during 
which time he was engaged in every court, and in almost 
every important cause, he appears never to have had a per- 
sonal difference or angry dispute with any of his professional 
brethren. The courtesy and native dignity of his demeanour, 
while they forbade any invasion of the respect due to others, 
charmed and subdued those around him, and taught them by 
example, the advantages arising from kindness and unity. 
Towards the bench, he was always conciliatory and respect- 
ful ; and, whatever might be the result of a cause, having 
faithfully discharged his duty in its management, he was nei- 
ther elated by success, nor dejected by defeat. This was the 
more extraordinary, as his feelings and temper were naturally 
excitable and enthusiastic ; but to him, as to Socrates, divine 
philosophy had imparted such self-possession and control, that 
amidst scenes the most turbulent and tempestuous, he never, 
for a single moment, lost his serenity and composure. 

" With a spirit that would have done credit to the best ages 
of chivalry, tempered, as has been said, by the most bland 
and courteous manners, with a large income, derived from 



152 BIOGRAPHY OF 

his private fortune and professional emoluments, and with a 
soul alive to all the sympathies and charities of Hfe, sur- 
rounded, in the progress of time, by a large, devoted, and 
lovely family, he stood the very centre of the social circle, 
and his influence radiated to the extremes! verge of usefulness 
and hospitality. In his social intercourse no stranger would 
have supposed him to be a lawyer. So nicely blended were 
all the accomplishments of this great man with each other, 
that while the combination was perfect, each integral part of 
his character was so beautiful in itself as to impart loveliness 
to all around it, and thereby lose every thing like distinctive 
or individual claims to our attention. Like the grouping of 
the statuary of Phidias or Praxiteles, each particular figure 
would seem to lose its individuality in its contribution to the 
general beauty of the design ; or, still more clearly to express 
the idea, in the language of one that never fails, 

' His life was gentle, and the elements 

So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up, 

And say to all the world — this was a man.* 

— "In 1791, he was appointed, by President Washington, 
District Attorney of the United States ; which post, shortly 
after the election of Mr. Adams to the presidency, he resigned, 
having continued in office about eight years. The situation of 
attorney-general was more than once tendered to him by Wash- 
ington, but as often declined, as being calculated to interfere with 
those domestic enjoyments for which no public preferment or 
profit could furnish an equivalent — and the president was him- 
self too much alive to the influence of retirement and domestic 
virtue, to demand a sacrifice from another, which he himself 
so reluctantly made. An appointment to so high a trust, and 
from so pure a source, and at the age of thirty years, when 
most men are unknown, is an abundant indication of extraor- 
dinary merit ,- and the fidelity and ability displayed by him 
during the continuance of oflice, more than confirmed the ex- 



WILLIAM RAVVLE. 153 

alted expectations which gave rise to the appointment ; and 
in cold modesty it may be said, that never before, nor since 
that time, have the interest and dignity of the United States 
been more signally represented, or more scrupulously main- 
tained. 

— " With Rawle, the law was but one of the elements in 
the proud structure of his eminence. The whole circle of the 
arts and sciences were tributary to his formation. In paint- 
ing and sculpture, his taste had been modelled by the best 
standards, and in the former of those arts, there were few 
amateurs that could excel him. Of poetry he was a devoted 
admirer, and at times he himself wooed the muses, with all 
the grace and success of a legitimate suitor. In philosophy, 
he was a zealous disciple, and his beautiful translation from 
the Greek, of the Phajdon of Plato, with his own practical 
commentary, would, in themselves alone, suffice to protect his 
name against oblivion. Among the most cherished and the 
most valuable of his works, however, and which I trust will 
not be withheld from the world, are those pertaining to the 
subject of religion. His ' Essay upon Angelic Influences,' is 
replete with the most fascinating speculation, and the soundest 
reflection. Nor is his discussion of the subject of Original 
Sin, and the Virtue of Baptism, although certainly less ela- 
borate, undeserving of the highest regard and encomium. 
Added to these, there is to be found among his manuscripts, 
an argument of the most polished and cogent character, the 
object of which is to show that there is sufficient proof of the 
truth of Christianity, to be derived from the parables of our 
Saviour alone. 

— " The favourite theory of this extraordinary man was 
that which related to Angelic Influences, and the immediate, 
agency of the Deity, in all the concerns of his fallen crea- 
tures. After infinite reading, as his notes and commentaries 
show, upon these subjects, his mind settled down upon the 



154 BIOGRAPHY OF 

conviction, that in all our walks through life, wo were 
accompanied by good and bad angels ; and that the Al- 
mighty and the Saviour of the world, were every where 
present — all pervading, not only in the churches where two 
or three persons had assembled together, in their holy name, 
but in the seclusion of the study, and the more active pursuits 
of public life. He thus concludes his elaborate examination 
into the truth of this doctrine: — * Awful, but most consola- 
tory thought I wherever I am, God is ; wherever I am, Jesus 
also is ; here, then, in my chamber, where I sit, is God ; 
here also is Christ. Let me ever retain this impression, let 
me ever consider them as present at all my actions, and as 
reading and knowing all my thoughts. May I not, under 
this daily inspection, gradually purify my polluted heart, 
amend my erring life? Blessed Saviour, assist me so to 
do !' And again, in considering the same subject, a short 
time before his death, he exclaims — 'Gracious God, Jesus 
Christ, Saviour of man, let me, a miserable sinner, hope for 
that mercy which will open for me the chamber of blessed- 
ness. God is ever present ; Jesus Christ is ever with us. 
They know my most secret thoughts! How often, notwith- 
standing all my efforts, are those thoughts unworthy of 
such a presence ! Oh, may I be able to purify the mind ! 
Let me figure to myself that my thoughts are words, uttered 
in the hearing of my Saviour and my God — will it not 
restrain them? Shall I not, at once, perceive how flagrant 
it would be, in such language, to address my Lord, my 
Saviour, my blessed Jesus? Oh, thou benevolent and pow- 
erful Being, who has, perhaps, infused into me these awful 
impressions, aid and strengthen me to execute them as they 
ought to be, in the full sense of thy goodness — and in tlie 
humble veneration of thy name. Let me, in future, always 
consider thy divine figure as present, although invisible ; let 
me endeavour to enter into sweet communion with thee. 



WILLIAM RAWLE. 155 

How rapturous the thought, and how can I fail, if I steadily 
pursue it, how can I fail to amend my heart !" 

— "In the year 1815, fate dashed the cup of happiness 
from the lips of our lamented friend. One of his daughters, 
an ornament to society, and ' the immediate jewel ' of her 
family, in the bloom and redolence of health and beauty, 
and with intellectual charms, even beyond her personal 
attractions, was suddenly snatched away by death, and left 
an aching void in the heart of the domestic circle, her 
friends and the community, which the alleviating hand of 
lime partially concealed, but could never repair. 

• Sweet rose — fair flower, untimely plucked, soon faded ; 
Plucked in the bud, and faded in the spring.' 

The painter who exhibited the death of Iphigenia, while he 
disclosed on his glowing canvass the manly sympathy of 
Achilles, and the stubborn grief of Ulysses, threw a veil over 
the face of Agamemnon, the agonized father, and thereby 
acknowledged the inadequacy of art to pourtray the feelings 
of a parent upon the sacrifice of his child. Let us, then, 
borrowing instruction from this classic example, draw the 
curtain over those griefs which the heart alone can feel, but 
which an angel's tongue could not express. 

— " To sum up this hasty and imperfect outline of the vir- 
tues and afBictions of the departed, we cannot do better than 
refer to the following beautiful and pathetic stanzas, con- 
tained in the last of his series of journals, and which are 
expressly introduced by him as applicable to himself From 
having been adopted to convey his own impressions of his 
career in life, they possess all the interest of original views, 
and are, therefore, strongly recommended to our attention and 
regard. 



"o 



'I know not, and I care not how 
The hours may pass me by. 



156 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Though each may leave upon my brow 
A furrow as they fly. 

*What matters it? each, still shall take, 
One link from off the chain 

Which binds me to this grievous stake 
Of sorrow and of pain. 

* Time, like a rower, plies his oar, 

And all his strokes are hours. 
Impelling to a better shore 
Of sunshine and of flowers. 

* I 've tasted all that life can give 

Of pleasure and of pain : 
And is it living, thus to live 
When joys no more remain 1 

* All nature has had charms for me, 

The sunshine and the shade. 

The soaring lark, the roving bee, 

The mountain and the glade. 

* I 've played with being as a toy, 

Till things have lost their form, 
Till danger has become a joy. 
And joy become a storm. 

' I've loved as man has seldom loved. 

So deeply, purely, well ; 
I've proved what man has seldom proved, 

Since first from bliss he fell. 

* Mine eye again can never sec 

What once my eye has seen ; 
This world to me can never be 
What once this world has been. 



WILLIAM RAWLE. 157 

* Speed, then, oh ! speed, my bark, speed on, 

Quick o'er life's troubled waves, 
The one that comes — the one that's gone, 

What is beneath them ? Graves.' 

— " In the year 1828, the degree of Doctor of Laws was 
conferred upon him by Dartmouth University, and a short 
time before his death, he was appHed to by that institution for 
a third edition of his valuable work upon Constitutional Law, 
which had been adopted as a text-book in many of the insti- 
tutions of learning in the United States. At the period of this 
application, however, his mind was no longer with the world, 
but in close communion with its Maker. The proposal, there- 
fore, was declined. For many years of his life, as has been 
said, he had drunk deeply from the springs of general literature 
and science ; but as he approached the fount of eternal life 
and love, all other enjoyments became comparatively insipid. 
Within the last year of his probation, while sitting by his 
bedside, knowing his fondness for books, I inquired whether 
there was any thing I could supply him with from the limited 
stores of my library. ' Yes,' replied he, ' any book you may 
have on the subject of religion, will be most welcome to me, 
as preparatory to the great change that rapidly approaches. 
General reading is adapted only to general objects ; my at- 
tention is now directed solely to one, and that is ' to make my 
calling and election sure.' This was not uttered in the way 
of repining at the idea of approaching dissolution, or remorse 
for former misappropriation of time, but in the meekness and 
firmness of a Christian approaching the judgment seat of his 
God. He seemed neither to seek nor shun his fate, consider- 
ing both equally reprehensible, but awaited with apparent, and 
most admired composure, that awful mandate which should 
summon him from time to eternity — from corruption to glory 
—-from among mortals to his kindred saints." 
14 



158 BIOGRAPHY OF 

This excellent man, and accomplished scholar, died April 
12th, 1836, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 

D. P. Brown, Esq. 



When was William Rawle born, and of what parents? 

Under whom did he commence the study of the law? 

When did he visit England, and for what object? 

In what year did he return to his native land? 

What is said of his urbanity of deportment? 

When was he appointed District Attorney of the United States? 

What domestic event afflicted him in 1815 ? 

When did he receive the title of LL.D. ? 

Where did he die ? 



WILLIAM MOORE SMITH. 

Born MDCCLIX— Died MDCCCXXI. 

The inheritance of genius has seldom been so favourably 
enjoyed by any descendants, through a succession of genera- 
tions, as by those of the family of which the above accom- 
plished scholar and poet, was an estimable member. His 
father, the Rev. Dr. Smith, was the first Provost of the Col- 
lege of Philadelphia, since merged into the University of 
Pennsylvania ; and in Europe and America was extensively 
known as a profound divine, an eloquent orator, and splendid 
writer. Intimate with the whole range of science, as well as 
with the classic authors of antiquity, he was enabled to clothe 
his pulpit compositions in the richest beauties of a refined 
taste, and awaken an interest in sacred things, by felicitous 
illustrations. In ornamental literature, he produced specimens 
of composition which are among the best incur language, and 
his attainments in philosophy were of a highly respectable 
order. Few men have done more for the cause of education, 



WILLIAM MOORE SMITH. 159 

in its highest grades, in this country ; for beyond his great and 
acknowledged ability, the kindness of his heart ever prompted 
him to notice youthful merit with his expressed favour, and 
patronize, by every encouragement and generous attention, 
the faintest indications of mental promise or moral excellence. 
Devotedly attached to the land of his adoption, he rendered 
important services with his able pen, at seasons when most 
required, and under circumstances critically dangerous to his 
personal fortune. In a long life, dedicated to religion and 
literature, his great merit had procured for him the esteem of 
an extensive circle of friends, and his death was justly re- 
garded as a public calamity by that community, to benefit 
which, he had generously lent all the energies of his accom- 
plished mind, as well as the benevolent impulses of an excel- 
lent heart. ^^yC.^(^''^ 

Of this estimable divine and scholar, William Moore Smith 
was the eldest son, and as it would seem, by a special ordina- 
tion of nature, he was the heir, along with his brother, the 
late Hon. Judge Smith, of Lancaster, of his parent's genius 
and talent. lie was born in Philadelphia, on the 1st of June, 
1759, and was educated at the college, over which his father 
presided with such credit and usefulness. He completed his 
studies in the above institution, at an early age, and received 
its honours with special approbation, on account of his merit 
and great application. 

On leaving college, he studied law, under a jurist of repu- 
tation and capacity, and this profession was pursued by him 
with honour and profit, until the close of the last century, 
when be received an agency for the settlement of British 
claims in America, provided for in the Gth article of Jay's 
Treaty. The duties of this appointment, alike honourable to 
his talents and integrity, required his presence in England ; 
and he accordingly visited that country in 1803, successfully 
accomplishing the purpose for which his services had been 
engaged. 



100 BIOGRAPHY OF 

On his return to America, he retired from his professional 
practice, to a country residence near Philadelphia, where he 
continued to reside, engaged in his favourite literary pursuits, 
until his death, which took place on the 12th of March, 1821. 

Mr. Smith was a ripe and polished scholar, as well as an 
excellent jurist. It is related of him, that his classical attain- 
ments were very extensive, and that he retained them in all 
their original freshness, by constant cultivation, to his death. 
He was remarkably studious ; and his great acquisitions in 
knowledge of every kind, aided by a remarkably retentive 
memory, made his mind a rich treasury of learning. It has 
been observed, respecting him, that he was a living index to 
what had passed, as well as what was passing before him ; 
and his references were seldom marked by error. 

Notwithstanding his devotion to letters, Mr. Smith was not 
a voluminous writer. Without any ambition to be the ob- 
served of the world, or to win its renown, he unfortunately 
could not be induced to give any work which would have 
evidenced the great wealth which his mind had gained, 
through a life dedicated to study and contemplation. Besides 
some political pamphlets and essays, written for the special 
occasions which called them forth, he published a volume of 
poems, in 1765, and their merit procured a republication in 
London, the following year. It is a cause for regret, that 
talents such as these evidence Mr. Smith to have possessed, 
were not allowed to be still better known and enjoyed by the 
literary world. 

As in the case of Rev. Dr. Smith, the transmission of men- 
tal powers, from father to son, is seen in the instance which 
the offspring of the present subject of this memoir have sup- 
plied. William R. Smith, Esq., the eldest son, at present in 
Wisconsin, possesses, in a remarkable degree, the talents and 
intellectual character of his father. He has written much 
excellent poetry ; but his pieces, scattered through the differ- 
ent periodicals of the day, have never been collected in a vo- 



V 



WILLIAM MOORE SMITH. 161 

lume. The other surviving son, Richard Penn Smith, Esq., 
has secured for himself a favourable notice from the literary 
world, through the various contributions which he has fur- 
nished, and which chiefly consist of poetic pieces, works of 
fiction, and some dramas, evincing much merit in these seve- 
ral departments of polite literature. 



Who was the father of Wm. Moore Smith ? 

When was Win. M. Smith born ? 

What profession did he select ? 

Why did he visit England ? 

On liis return to America did he prosecute the legal business ? 

In what engagements did he spend the remainder of his life ? 

What is said respecting him as a scholar? 

When did he depart this life ? 

What is said of the sons whom he left ? 



THE FALL OF ZAMPOR. 
A Peruvian Ode. 

" Now ruin lifts her haggard head, 
And madly staring horror screams ! 

O'er yonder field bestrew'd with dead, 
See, how the lurid lightning gleams ! 

" Lo ! 'mid the terrors of the storm, 

From yonder black-brow'd cloud of night, 

The mighty Capac's dreadful form 
Bursts forth upon my aching sight ! 

"But ah! what phantoms, fleeting round, 
Give double horrors to the gloom. 

Each pointing to the ghastly wound 
That sent him shroudless to the tomb ! 

" On me they bend the scowling eye ; 

For me their airy arms they wave ! 
Oh ! stay — nor yet from Zampor fly : 

We'll be companions in the grave ! 
14* 



162 BIOGRAPHY OF 

" Dear victims of a tyrant's rage ! 

They're gone ! — each shadowy form is fled ! 
Yet soon these hoary locks of age 

Shall low as theirs in dust be laid ! 

" Thou faithless steel, that harmless fell 
Upon the haughty Spaniard's crest, 

Swift to my swelling heart, go tell 

How deep thou'st pierced thy master's breast. 

" But shall curst Spain's destroying son, 
With transport smile on Zampor's fate ? 

No ! ere the deed of death be done 
The tyrant's blood shall glut my hate. 

" Yon forked flash with friendly glare 

Points where his crimson banners fly, 
Look down, ye forms of fleeting air, 
I yet shall triumph ere I die ! 

" He spoke — and like a meteor's blaze 
Rush'd on th' unguarded Spaniard's lord ; 

Around his head the lightning plays — 
Reflected from his brandish'd sword : 

" ' Great Capac nerve the arm of age, 
And guide it swift to Garcia's breast, 

His pangs shall all my pangs assuage, 
His death shall give my country rest. 

" Ye powers who thirst for human blood 
Receive this victim at your shrine !' 

Aghast the circling warriors stood 
Nor could prevent the chief's design. 

" ' 'Tis Garcia's crimson stream that flows, 
'Tis Zampor hurls him to his fate — 



LIJSDLEY MURRAY. 163 

The author of my country's woes 
Now sinks the victim of my hate.' 

" From Garcia's breast the steel he drew 

And sheathed it deep within his own — 
' I come, ye gods of lost Peru,' 

He said — and died without a groan." 



LINDLEY MURRAY. 

Born MDCCXLV — Died MDCCCXXVI. 

In the several departments of religion, morals, and litera- 
ture, Lindley Murray has rendered services not less extensive 
than efficient. In aid of the human heart, he brought not only, 
in all their majesty, the claims of our holy faith, in a style 
persuasive and convincing, but supplied in the purity of his 
walk and conversation, an engaging example of its divine in- 
fluence in the individual breast of one of its disciples. A life 
devoted to the service of his fellow men, was spent in endea- 
vouring to elevate their minds by presenting the sublime truths 
of the gospel in a form which gave a charm to the exhibi- 
tions of eternal things ; whilst intellectual improvement was 
promoted by his harmonious blending of the precepts of hea- 
venly wisdom with the canons of secular knowledge. The 
distinction which he acquired, was secured, to no partial ex- 
tent, through his many personal virtues ; whilst an enviable 
honour is deservedly bestowed upon one, who lived in exalting 
the moral character of mankind, by the compilation of works 
which had for their object the promotion of a pure religion, 
and the mental instruction of the rising generation. 

It will always be a just matter of surprise, although it fur- 
nishes no small cause of gratulation to all who can appreciate 



164 BIOGRAPHY OF 

liis valuable services, that with a mind qualified to fill a high 
station in the more distinguished ranks of science and litera- 
ture, the subject of this memoir should have lent his extensive 
acquirements to the purpose of preparing the elementary works 
required in primary schools. The very conception of the plan 
is a proof of the great benevolence of his character ; and at 
the same time an evidence of the rectitude and integrity of a 
sound judgment. The deficiencies in the series of introduc- 
tory books previous to his undertaking of the task, excited the 
desire to supply the acknowledged want ; and he accordingly 
prepared a course of elementary books, which have been de- 
servedly valued, since their publication, with unlessened inter- 
est. The extensive use of them in the academies in England 
and America, is not among the least evidences of their great 
merit and excellence. His English Grammar, to this day, has, 
among the many which have since appeared, no one superior 
to it, and in every instance the attempts to improve it have 
been admitted failures. His reading books are admirable 
specimens, not only of system and orderly arrangement of 
their respective subjects, but their matter contains beautiful 
specimens of chaste, classical composition, and instructive, 
moral lessons. They are what works of the kind ever should 
be : supplying food for the minds of the young, whilst disci- 
plining the heart in the principles of virtue and religion. In 
fine, it may in all confidence be said, that no writer has ever 
done more in supplying the required aids in the education of 
youth than our author ; and few^ it may be added, have en- 
tered upon the task with more ability, or prosecuted it with 
more untiring zeal. 

Lindley Murray was born in Swatara township, Lancaster 
county, in the year 1745. His parents belonged to the society 
of Friends ; and although in the less distinguished walks of 
life, were honoured with the esteem of the respectable com- 
munity among whom they resided. The rudiments of that 
education, which afterwards enabled him to benefit his fellow 



LINDLEY MURRAY. 165 

men and secure for himself so great a measure of honourable 
distinction, were received by him at the Friends' academy in 
Philadelphia. When seventeen years of age, his father re- 
moved to New York ; and Lindley was entered in one of the 
best schools in that city. Having been destined to the mer- 
cantile business, in which his father had become eminently 
successful, he was placed in a counting-house ; but the profes- 
sion did not please him. His strong inclination to study led 
him so far as privately to leave his home and seek admission 
into a school of high character in Burlington, N. J. On being 
discovered, he returned to his affectionate family, and suc- 
ceeded in prevailing upon his parents to supply him with a 
teacher in the languages. His close application to these 
branches of learning, did not prevent him from cultivating his 
mind in preparation for his favourite pursuit. For this he 
always had a decided preference ; and after the consent of his 
parents had been obtained, he devoted himself to the study 
of the law, under the direction of the Honourable John 
Jay. In his twenty-second year, he was admitted to the bar, 
and soon obtained that measure of practice to which his ac- 
knowledged talents entitled him, and which his close attention 
to business had enabled him to secure. On the commence- 
ment of the war of independence, his health having mate- 
rially declined, he removed into the country, about 40 miles 
from New York : here he continued for nearly four years. 
From this retreat he withdrew in order to follow the pursuits 
of commerce, and accumulated property sufficient to enable 
him to retire from business, about the close of the revolutionary 
struggle. A beautiful country-seat was purchased by him 
near Bellevue, three miles from the city, but a debilitated con- 
stitution required his removal to a more congenial climate. 
He accordingly, by the advice of his medical friends, made a 
voyage to England, with the intention of remaining there for 
two years only ; but his bodily infirmities detained him for the 
remainder of his life. Having purchased a very pleasant 



166 BIOGRAPHY OF 

estate in Ilolgate, near the city of York, he now devoted him* 
self to reading and the preparation of works for schools. His 
first production was " The Power of Religion on the Mind," 
which appeared in 1787. His admirable Grammar was issued 
in 1795, and is the best work extant. It was succeeded by his 
English Exercises, and a Key designed to illustrate the Gram- 
mar. In 1802 he published a French compilation, entitled 
Lecteur Fran^ais, and subsequently an Introduction to Lec- 
teur Fran9ais; and in 1804 an English spelling-book. He 
also published a selection from Home's Commentary on the 
Psalms, and " The Duty and Benefit of reading the Scriptures." 
In 1809 he furnished interesting memoirs of his life, and they 
supply a beautiful sample of this species of writing. After 
having suffered from bodily affliction the greater portion of his 
life, he expired, February 16th, 1826, in his 81st year, leav- 
ing behind him no partial claims for the gratitude and admi- 
ration of his fellow-men. 



When and where was Lindley Murray born ? 
To what religious body did his parents belong ? 
In what academy did he receive the rudiments of his education ? 
When did his father remove to New York city ? 
What pursuit in life was it his father's wish that he should follow ? 
Was it agreeable ? and if not, what event occurred ? 
What profession did he finally adopt, and under whose direction ? 
What did he do on the breaking out of the Revolution ? 
How did he secure a fortune ? 

What occasioned his leaving America, and how long did he originally in- 
tend to remain in England ? 
At what place did he establish his residence ? 
What was the first work which he published ? 
When did he issue his Grammar? 
What were his other works ? 
When did he die ? 



Extract from the Memoirs of the Life and Writings of L. Murray, 
written by himself. 

" With regard to the privations and trials, with which it has 
pleased Divine Providence to visit me, I hope I may say, 



LINDLEY MURRAY. 167 

without assuming too much to myself, that I have long ac- 
quiesced in my lot, with resignation and cheerfulness. 
Though I have had for more than twenty years, great 
debility of body, and almost constant confinement, proceed- 
ing from my inability to walk, I do not recollect that, in the 
course of this trying period, I ever repined at my situation, 
or expressed a dissatisfied sentiment respecting it, except on 
one occasion. This happened in the first year of my indis- 
position, and was produced by the following circumstance. I 
had made considerable efforts to overcome the disorder with 
which I was affected. But perceiving no good effect from 
any of them, I began to be tolerably reconciled to my condi- 
tion. At this time, another physician was called in, to assist 
the family doctor ; and by his earnest recommendation, I was 
induced to take a particular medicine, from which he and 
myself anticipated much benefit. But instead of being useful, 
it proved injurious to me. The sanguine hope of relief which 
I had indulged, made me feel the disappointment very 
severely : and contemplating, at that moment, my prime of 
life, and the prosperous circumstances with which I was sur- 
rounded, I foolishly said, it was hard that I should be de- 
prived of health, at a time when it appeared to be so pecu- 
liarly desirable. This expression was scarcely uttered, when 
my heart condemned me for its rashness. I felt remorse for 
this want of submission to Divine Providence; and was much 
humbled under the sense of my folly. The painful reflections 
which I had, on this occasion, probably contributed to make 
me more guarded, in future, ngainst the admission of thoughts 
so unjust and irreverent. There has, indeed, amidst all my 
privations, been no cause for murmuring. I have possessed 
so many comforts, so many sources of real enjoyment, that I 
have often thought my debility and confinement could scarcely 
be called an aflliction. And I sincerely lament, that I have 
so little improved the blessings which have been conferred 
upon me. 



•168 BIOGRAPHY OF 

" When I contemplate my own unworthiness, and the good- 
ness of God to me, through the whole course of my life, T 
feel that I can not be too humble, nor too grateful for his 
manifold mercies. I can not, indeed, be sufficiently thankful 
for them. Amidst the numerous blessings which I have 
received, it has afforded me peculiar satisfaction, that I have 
been disposed to ascribe them all to Him, as the Origin and 
Giver of every thing that is good ; as the Parent, Redeemer, 
and Sanctifier, of men. If I consider him as my Creator and 
Preserver ; as the Author of the laws and operations of na- 
ture ; as the Controller and Director of these laws and opera- 
tions ; as the immediate Bestower of benefits ; or, as our 
Deliverer from sin and misery, and our hope of eternal life, 
through the sacrifice and merits of his beloved Son, the Lord 
Jesus Christ : I perceive that he is the Source whence every 
blessing is derived, and the great object of gratitude and love. 
But as this is a subject of high importance, and on which I 
love to dwell, my friend will not, I am sure, think it impro- 
per, if I express myself upon it with more particularity. 

" As my Creator and Preserver, I owe to him all the facul- 
ties of my soul and body, all the capacities which I have for 
the enjoyment of corporeal, intellectual, and spiritual objects; 
and, consequently, all the advantage and pleasure that I have 
received from these sources. 

" As the Author of the laws of nature, of the material, ani- 
mal, and rational world, I am indebted to him for every 
benefit, which I have derived from this grand system of Di- 
vine wisdom and goodness. He has not only given me 
powers to receive happy impressions, but he has arranged 
and disposed his works, so that their regular operations sup- 
ply those powers with objects, which are calculated to em- 
ploy and gratify them. When this great machine of nature, 
or any part of it, produces in me pleasurable or beneficial 
effects, I must attribute them all to its beneficent x\uthor, who 
superintends and permits these operations. If I am, at any 



LINDLEY MURRAY. 169 

time, enabled to conduct myself so happily as to receive par- 
ticular benefits from this arrangement and operation of second 
causes, I still owe them all to Him, who has both presented 
the feast, and given me power to partake of it, and liberty to 
choose what is best for me. If, therefore, I am tempted to 
ascribe any thing exclusively to myself, from the right use 
of my ability, as a free agent, I am instantly checked by the 
reflection, that this ability itself is the gift of God." 



ELIAS BOUDINOT. 

Born A. D. MDCCXL — Died MDCCCXXI. 

Elias Boudinot was born in Philadelphia, on the 2d of 
May, 1740. He was descended from one of those pious refu- 
gees who fled from France to America, to escape the horrors 
of ecclesiastical persecution, and to enjoy religious freedom in 
this favoured land. He had the advantage of a classical edu- 
cation, and pursued the study of the law under the direction 
of Richard Stockton, Esq., a member of the first American 
congress, whose eldest sister he afterwards married. 

Shortly after his admission to the bar of New Jersey, Dr. 
Boudinot rose to the first grade in his profession. Early in 
the revolutionary war he was appointed by congress to the 
important trust of commissary-general of prisoners. In the 
year 1777, he was chosen a member of the national congress, 
and in the year 1782, he was elected president of that august 
body. In this capacity, he had the honour and happiness of 
putting his signature to the treaty of peace, which for ever 
established his country's independence. 

On the return of peace he resumed the practice of the law. 
It was not long, however, before he was called to a more im- 
portant station. On the adoption of the present constitution 
of the United States, the confidence of his fellow-citizens al- 
15 



170 BIOGRAPHY OF 

lotted him a seat in the house of representatives of the United 
States. In this honourable place he was continued for six 
successive years. On quitting it to return once more to the 
pursuits of private life, he was appointed by that consummate 
judge of character, the first president of the United States, to 
fill the office of director of the national mint, vacated by the 
death of the celebrated Rittenhouse. This trust he executed, 
with exemplary fidelity, during the administration of Wash- 
ington, of Adams, and (in part) of Jefferson. Resigning this 
office, and seeking seclusion from the perplexities of public 
life, and from the bustle and ceremony of a commercial me- 
tropolis, he fixed his residence in the city of Burlington, (New 
Jersey.) Here, surrounded by affectionate friends, and visited 
by strangers of distinction ; engaged much in pursuit of bibli- 
cal literature ; practising the most liberal and unceremonious 
hospitality ; filling up life in the exercise of Christian duties, 
and of the loveliest charities that exalt our nature ; meekly 
and quietly communicating and receiving happiness of the 
purest kind ; he sustained, and has left such a character, as 
will for ever endear his memory to his friends, and do honour 
to his country. 

Prior to the revolution he was elected a member of the 
board of trustees of New Jersey college. At the time of his 
decease, he was the senior member of this corporation. The 
liberal donation he made it during life, and the more ample 
one in his last will, must be long remembered with gratitude 
by the friends of science. But, while anxious to promote the 
interests of science, he was not unmindful of the superior 
claims of religion on his remembrance and his bounty. At- 
tached by principle and habit to the religious denomination of 
which he was so distinguished a member, he has been most 
liberal in his testamentary donations to the General Assembly 
of the Presbyterian Church, and to their Theological Semi- 
nary, established at Princeton. But, as his mind, unshackled 
by bigotry or sectarian prejudice, was expanded by the noblest 



ELIAS BOUDINOT. 171 

principles of Christian benevolence, he has also very liberally- 
endowed various institutions whose object is to diffuse more 
widely the light of revealed truth ; to evangelize the heathen ; 
to instruct the deaf and dumb ; to educate youth for the sacred 
ministry ; to advance knowledge, and to relieve the wants and 
miseries of the sick or suffering poor. 

To those of his fellow-citizens, however, who are peculiarly 
interested in the wide circulation of the sacred Scriptures, 
perhaps the chief excellence in the character of the deceased, 
was the ardent and effective zeal he displayed in the Bible 
cause. 

The efforts he at first made, notwithstanding the infirmities 
of age and much unexpected opposition, to establish the Ame- 
rican Bible Society ; his munificent donation to this institution 
at its first organization ; his subsequent liberality to aid in the 
erection of a depository ; the devise of a large and valuable 
tract of land ; and the deep and undiminished interest he mani- 
fested in all the concerns of the national society ever since he 
was chosen to be its president ; while they spread his fame 
through every region of the globe, will consecrate his memory 
in the hearts of his fellow-citizens in America, and his fellow- 
christians throughout the world. But, if his public services 
and his private worth claim the tribute of general esteem and 
affectionate remembrance, the closing scene of his life is no 
less calculated to console his friends under the heavy loss they 
have sustained, than it is to edify and support the departing 
Christian. In the full possession of his mental faculties, and 
in the assured persuasion of his approaching dissolution; his 
faith was firm, his patience unexhausted, and his hopes were 
bright. While, with paternal solicitude, he exhorted those 
around him to rest on the Lord Jesus Christ as the only true 
ground of trust ; while, with solemnity and tenderness, he 
commended a dutiful and affectionate daughter (his only child) 
to the care of his surviving friends, with humble resignation 
he expressed his readiness, his desire " to depart in peace," 



172 BIOGRAPHY OF ELIAS BOUDINOT. 

to the bosom of his Father in Heaven : and the last prayer he 
was heard to articulate, was, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit ! 

Dr. Boudinot died at his seat in the city of Burlington, New 
Jersey, on the 24th of October, 1821, in the eighty -second 
year of his age. On the 26th of October, his remains were 
committed to the tomb, followed by a large concourse of fa- 
mily connexions, and by the most respectable inhabitants of 
the city of Burlington. Among the mourning friends who 
attended on this occasion, was a deputation from the board 
of managers of the American Bible Society. 

Rogers' Biog. Diet, 

When and where was E. Boudinot born ? 
From what ancestry did he descend ? 
With what commission was he honoured by congress ? 
Was he ever a member of the revolutionary congress, and did he hold any 
post or rank in that body ? 
To what important office was he appointed by General Washington? 
What do we observe as to his benevolence of character ? 
What great religious institution was he instrumental in establishing ? 
When and where did he die ? 



PENNSYLVANIA BIOGRAPHY. 



PART II. 



MILITARY AND NAVAL HEROES. 



MAJOR GENERAL THOMAS MIFFLIN. 

Born MDCCXLIV — Died MDCCC. 

" Although Pennsylvania was not inferior to any of her 
sister states in devotion to the cause of the revolution, or in 
liberal contribution to the support of the war, it has happened 
that the catalogue of eminent military characters has received 
little addition from her. Circumstances are always neces- 
sary to bring talent into action. The bravest warrior, and 
the most ardent patriot, without the accidental opportunity of 
distinguishing himself, may remain unnoticed and obscure ; 
while others, though without superior merit, derive honour 
and distinction from a mere concurrence of circumstances. 

" Anthony Wayne and Thomas Mifflin were those of the 
children of Pennsylvania, who chiefly contributed to decorate 
her with laurels. It was the felicity of the former, at a late 
period,, to have a new opportunity of exhibiting the power and 
the success of his talents for war. 

" In tracing the life of Thomas Mifllin, we shall find that 

an early dedication of all his energies to the cause of his 

country, an unremitted aspiration for hazardous employment, 

and a constitutional activity which nothing could wear out, 

15 *- (173) 



174 BIOGRAPHY OF' 

were insufficient to place him so high on the roll of historical 
fame, as some of his competitors ; yet his name and his merits 
deserve to be recorded. He was in early life ' the beloved 
man' of Pennsylvania, and the following sketch will show 
that her confidence and affection, in respect to him, were never 
diminished. 

*' Thomas Mifflin was descended from one of the first set- 
tlers of Pennsylvania, and he was himself a native of Phila- 
delphia. 

" In 1744, the year of his birth, the peaceful and humble 
dependence of a province afforded little prospect that the lapse 
of a few years would require the high employment of the 
mind, in the perils of internal warfare, and the establishment 
of an independent empire. 

" The general course of education, at that time, was calcu- 
lated for the utilities of domestic life, or the limited calls of 
provincial employment ; and it would have been deemed ab- 
surd and dangerous, to hold up the heroes of Greece and 
Rome for the imitation of the youth of Philadelphia. Intended 
for the mercantile profession, the education of Mifflin, although 
carefully superintended by his respectable father, was not 
protracted by a close study of ancient languages, and his 
knowledge of them was, consequently, moderate ; yet he 
passed with reputation through the usual collegiate course, 
and was subsequently placed in the counting-house of William 
Coleman, a man, of whom Dr. Franklin has testified that he 
had ' the coolest, clearest head, the best heart, and the exact- 
est morals, of almost any man he ever met with.' 

" On attaining the age of twenty -one years, he made a 
voyage to Europe, several parts of which were visited by him 
with a view to his own improvement, but no further particulars 
of his travels have reached his present biographer. On his 
return, he entered into business with one of his brothers, 
and the affectionate attachment which existed between them, 
was much noticed. Circumstances afterwards gave him an 



THOMAS MIFFLIN. 175 

opportunity to evince the sincerity of his feelings towards the 
family of that brother, in a manner which did him the greatest 
credit. 

" His opening talents rendered him an early favourite with 
his fellow-citizens. In the provincial legislature, the city of 
Philadelphia was then represented by two burgesses, annually 
elected ; and to be one of those two burgesses, was reckoned 
no inconsiderable honour, even in quiet times : but when clouds 
began to gather round us ; when the blind desire to draw a 
forced revenue from the colonies, led the British ministry to put 
in jeopardy the immense national profit derived from our trade, 
and when a severity of restriction on our internal transactions 
was openly menaced and partly enforced, it became important 
that the metropolis of the central province should select for 
its counsellors and agents, men of the purest principles and 
the best abilities. In 1772, when he had attained only twenty- 
eight years of age, Thomas Mifflin was chosen one of those 
burgesses. His conduct gave so much satisfaction to his con- 
stituents, that in the ensuing year, he again received the same 
distinction, which was rendered the more flattering, from his 
having a colleague in the illustrious Benjamin Franklin, who 
was then on his return from Europe. 

"A yet more elevated post was soon afterwards assigned 
to him. In July, 1774, he was included in the list of dele- 
gates to the first Congress. The appointments of members of 
Congress were at that time made, in all the provinces, by the 
legislatures, and continued to be made in this manner, until 
the adoption of the present constitution. It was an objection- 
able principle, but practically unavoidable. 

" All the colleagues of Mifflin were his seniors. Joseph 
Galloway was a gentleman of the bar, of great talents, and 
considerable property. He had been an active opponent of 
the proprietaries, and possessed the confidence of great num- 
bers of the people, though many suspected that he was not 
sincerely attached to the American cause, and their suspicions 



176 BIOGRAPHY OF 

were confirmed, by his subsequently joining the army of Sir 
William Howe. Edward Biddle, also, was a lawyer. He 
resided at Reading, in the county of Berks : he was a man 
of ready elocution, sound principles, and correct judgment. 
Samuel Rhoads, a respectable merchant of Philadelphia, be- 
longed to the Society of Friends — without the talent of speak- 
ing in public, he possessed much acuteness of mind, his judg- 
ment was sound, and his practical information extensive. The 
other two gentlemen, Messrs. Morton and Humphreys, resided 
in the country, and were respectable, though not prominent 
men. 

" The closed doors of the hall of Congress prevented the 
public from ascertaining the particular conduct of the mem- 
bers within it. We find upon the journals, the appointments 
of committees and their reports. The transcendent abilities 
of Jay, of William Livingston, Patrick Henry, Chase, Rut- 
ledge, and many others, could not be recorded in these official 
protocols. The estimation in which individual members were 
held, may be uncertainly inferred from the appointments of 
committees. The name of Mifflin frequently appears in this 
capacity. 

"When the news of the battle of Lexington reached 
Philadelphia, a town meeting was called, and the fellow- 
citizens of Mifflin were delighted by his animated oratory. 
Other addresses were delivered on this solemn occasion, all 
of which partook of the same feeling; but, although the 
youngest of these speakers, Mifflin had the exclusive merit 
of suggesting the necessity of a steady adherence to the 
resolutions that were adopted. The language with which he 
concluded was long remembered. ' Let us not,' he said, * be 
bold in declarations, and afterwards cold in action. Let not 
the patriotic feelings of to-day be forgotten to-morrow, nor 
have it said of Philadelphia, that she passed noble resolutions, 
slept upon them, and afterwards neglected them.' 

" What he recommended to others, he practised himself 



THOMAS MIFFLIN. 177 

The formatioa of military companies and regiments, the 
acquisition of as great a portion of military knowledge a^s 
there could be obtained, and the exercises of daily drill and 
discipline, soon became general. Of one of these regiments, 
he was appointed the major, and no efforts on his part were 
wanting to improve this species of domestic defence. But 
his active spirit could not long be confined to mere measures 
of preparation ; he panted for opportunities of coming into 
action, and he flew to the camp then formed before Boston. 

'i Destitute of materials for besieging a place even slightly 
fortified, the occupations of the American army were chiefly 
confined to restraining the excursions of General Gage, and 
intercepting his supplies. A small affair of this kind afforded 
Mifflin the first opportunity of displaying both his courage and 
Jiis judgment. A detachment had been sent from the British 
army to a place called Lechmire's Point, for the purpose of 
collecting cattle ; Mifflin solicited and obtained the command 
of a party to oppose them, and succeeded, with half disci- 
pUned militia, in repelling the regular soldiery. An eye wit- 
ness, the aged and venerable General Craig, declared to tho 
writer, that he * never saw a greater display of personal 
bravery, than was exhibited on this occasion, in the cool and 
intrepid conduct of Colonel Mifflin.' 

*' With no other opportunity to distinguish himself, Mifflin, 
in common with his brother officers, was obliged to remain in 
a state of inactivity, while the enemy were confined in Boston. 
Hopes were entertained that some effort would be made to 
capture the town, but Congress had laid General Washington 
under a restriction of previously obtaining the approbation of 
a council of war. 

" A council was called, and on full deliberation it was 
determined to postpone a measure, the success of which was 
certainly doubtful. The general was not, however, inclined 
wholly to relinquish the attempt, and at a later period, a strong 
work was erected on Dorchester Neck, which would com- 



178 BIOGRAPHY OF 

mand the town, and was expected to draw out a considerable 
part of the British force j in which event, it was the intention 
of the judicious chief, to make the attack ; but the enemy, 
mindful of Bunker's Hill, instead of endeavouring to reduce 
the newly erected work, resolved to withdraw from a town 
which they perceived they could not much longer defend. 
On the 17th of March, 1776, Boston was evacuated, and 
most of our troops returned to their respective homes. 

" Very soon after this great event, Colonel Mifflin received 
from Congress the commission of brigadier-general, which, 
at so early an age, was no inconsiderable honour. He had, 
before this time, performed the laborious duties of quarter- 
master-general ; which were afterwards undertaken by Ste- 
phen Moylan, an accomplished Irish gentleman, resident 
among us, but of habits and manners not exactly suited to 
the difficulties of the times : he therefore soon abandoned 
the office, and Mifflin was requested by Congress to resume 
it. Military men know this to be a post of the first neces- 
sity, and of severe responsibility ; but it is one which tends 
to withdraw the occupant from the chance of distinction in 
actual warfare ; and, therefore, as well in this respect, as in 
regard to the nature of the employment itself, Mifflin's ac- 
ceptance of the office was somewhat, of an act of self-denial. 
The country was in a state of disorder — its commerce was 
suspended — and, of the articles most in demand, some could 
not be procured at all, and others were reluctantly parted 
with. In the organization of the department, every thing 
was new and unsettled ; and, in its operations, almost every 
measure either offended the people, or disappointed the go- 
vernment. In all his share of public life. General Mifflin 
found this the most obnoxious to his feelings, and, for a time, 
the most prejudicial to his character. 

" But congress at this juncture entertained a high opinion 
of him. On their secret journal, it appears (of the date of 
May 25, 1776,) that a committee was appointed to confer 



THOMAS MIFFLIN. 179 

with Gen. Washington, Gen. Gates, and General Mifflin, 
' touching the frontiers towards Canada.' Of the result of 
this particular conference, no traces appear ; and, as an inci- 
dent of general history, it would scarcely deserve notice : but 
to the biographer, it is not devoid of interest. The friends of 
the youthful hero were gratified by seeing him associated with 
one on whom the destinies of their country seemed to depend, 
and with another, whose age and experience stamped a value 
on his opinions. 

" In November, 1776, the commander-in-chief sent him 
from Newark with a confidential letter to congress. — Our 
affairs, at that time, wore a gloomy aspect, and it required 
firm hearts to continue in resistance to the apparently over- 
whelming power of Sir William Howe. 

" There was probably much committed to Mifflin beyond 
the contents of the letter ; and congress being desirous to avail 
themselves of his information and his judgment, he was, in a 
manner not very usual, nor perhaps altogether consistent with 
military order, directed to remain near them, of which Gen. 
Washington was apprised. 

" The spirits of the people were, at this period, much de- 
pressed. The contest was considered, by some, as desperate 
— by all, as doubtful. Our army, dwindling every day in 
number, was obliged to seek refuge in defensible positions. 
New Jersey was overrun, and the safety of Philadelphia was 
endangered. The inhabitants of this city were necessary for 
its defence, and it was from the country that the recruits for 
the army, anxiously invoked by General Washington, were 
to be drawn ; but much torpor and much dejection seemed to 
prevail. Something out of the common course was necessary 
to revive the ardour of 1775. Personal application was de- 
termined on, and one, who besides sincere and unaffected 
patriotism, had already shared the dangers of the field, and 
one who possessed a powerful and impressive eloquence, was 
to be selected. These qualities were combined in Gen. Mif« 



180 BIOGRAPHY OF 

flin, and he was directed to proceed through the adjacent coun- 
ties, ' to exhort and rouse the mihtia to come forth in defence 
of their country.' The legislature of Pennsylvania, then in 
session, was requested to appoint a committee to accompany 
him. On this honourable and extraordinary mission he set 
out immediately. He assembled the inhabitants in every con- 
venient place of public resort ; his animated eloquence was 
heard from the pulpit of the church, from the meeting-house, 
and the court-house, and everywhere with the happiest effect. 
The gallant coup de main at Trenton, produced a gleam of 
sunshine, which greatly aided his exertions, and he w^is de- 
lighted at the respectable addition which was soon made to 
the army in New Jersey. 

" The sense which Congress entertained of his merits, was 
evinced by their conferring on him, in the following month 
of February, the rank of major-general. 

" In the course of this year, his health became so much 
impaired, that he was under the necessity of requesting leave 
to resign, but his application was unsuccessful. — He was not 
even relieved from the fatigues of the quartermaster-general's 
department. On the contrary, his labours were increased, by 
being appointed a member of a new board of war. It would 
seem, however, that this body did not immediately go into 
operation, for a report was soon afterwards made to Congress, 
by one of their committees, that he had been consulted 
with, and his advice taken as to supplying the army with flour, 
and other matters which related to the quartermaster-general's 
department. 

— "From this time to the close of the war, nothing of 
much moment occurred in his public life, but his strong hold 
on the affections of his fellow-citizens still continued ; in 1783, 
he was again appointed by the legislature of Pennsylvania a 
member of Congress, and on the 3d of November, in the same 
year, he was elevated to the dignified station of president of 
tliat body. 



THOMAS MIFFLIN. 181 

"In this capacity, he had the distinguished honour of re- 
ceiving, at Annapolis, from one of the first of warriors, and 
best of statesmen, the resignation of that commission which 
had borne him to glory, and his country to independence. 

" The answer of the president to the dignified, yet respect- 
ful address of the commander-in-chief, closely resembled the 
manly and simple eloquence of the latter. They are both 
recorded in the journals of Congress, but those journals could 
not record the feelings which the occasion inspired. The 
audience was public, and the impressions made as well by the 
act itself, as by the manner in which it was conducted, long 
remained on the minds of all who were present. 

" Foreigners have not yet ceased to extol the magnanimity 
of him, who thus voluntarily retired from the command of a 
victorious army, to the shades of private life, without any dis- 
tinction above his fellow-citizens ; and of his merits in this 
respect, his fellow-citizens were duly sensible. If, indeed, he 
had made an attempt to arrogate to himself any inordinate 
power, or personal privilege, the genius and character of our 
country would have prevented its success ; but the purity of 
his mind forbade his forming such a wish ; his example was 
followed by his fellow-soldiers, and fellow-sufferers, and never 
was the dissolution of an army marked by more resignation 
and tranquillity. The slight and temporary ebullition of June, 
1783, deserves scarcely to be mentioned, as an exception to 
the general demeanour of the common men. 

" General Mifflin, after discharging the duties of president 
of Congress, with much dignity and effect, was left out of the 
new delegation from Pennsylvania, and for a short time re- 
mained in private life. But his native state, accustomed to 
see his name enrolled in the list of her public servants, did not 
long leave him in retirement. 

" In 1785, he was chosen a member of the state legislature, 
and when that body convened, they elected him their speaker. 
In 1788, he was placed by popular suffrage in the seat which 
16 



182 BIOGRAPHY OF 

had bten occupied by Franklin, and became first a member, 
and afterwards president of the supreme executive council. 

" Prior to this, however, in 1787, when it became obvious 
to all, that the confederation of the states was inadequate to 
their safety and happiness, and a convention for the purpose 
of framing a constitution was agreed on, he was chosen a 
member. 

" Of the share which he took in the formation of that une- 
qualled constitution, which has so much conduced to the fame 
and happiness of our country, we have no satisfactory know- 
ledge. The proceedings were secret ; and we can only glean 
from the imperfect journal of Mr. Gates, part of their debates. 
His name appears as one of the illustrious band who signed 
the constitution, of whom but one now remains ! 

— " As president of the convention, Mifflin was not re- 
quired to vote, but in committees of the whole, he could both 
debate and vote, yet his voice was seldom heard. His suf- 
frages were always on the popular side. 

" As soon as the constitution went into operation, the elec- 
tion of a governor became an interesting subject. Wilson, 
whose views in the convention were entirely theoretical and 
abstract, deserted his new associates, and concurred with a 
small number of his citizens in recommending General St. 
Clair for this high oflice. St. Clair then possessed a good 
military reputation. He was a man of no extraordinai7 at- 
tainments, but his private character was fair, and he was 
much approved of by the federal party ; yet many of the 
federalists regretted the nomination, and foresaw that, by op- 
posing the election of Midlin, he would be driven into the 
opposite political ranks. The mode of election finally adopted 
by the convention, was admitted to render the success of St. 
Clair exceedingly doubtful. When it was suggested to Wil- 
son, that if the system of electors, and the compound ratio 
had been adopted, there would have been a better prospect of 
success, he answered with an apophthegm, which showed little 



THOMAS MIFFLIN. 183 

acquaintance with human nature. ' The best man,' he said, 
' will always be the most popular.' He forgot the ostracism 
of Aristides. But the maxim is otherwise fallacious. If St. 
Clair was thought by some the ' best man in the state,' for 
this office, others sincerely believed that Mifflin was the best. 
It is, therefore, a matter of opinion, not of absolute merit. 
Mifflin was elected by a vast majority, and the preference 
given him over St. Clair was not to be condemned. His hap- 
piest exhibitions were those of an executive character. He 
was ready to conceive, and prompt to execute whatever the 
duties of such an office required. 

" The nine years which limited his continuance in office 
were not altogether years of quiet, regular detail. In 1793, 
the public mind was disturbed by the indiscretion of the mi- 
nister from France, and during that and two or three suc- 
ceeding years, the administration of the United States re- 
ceived from the governor of Pennsylvania, a ready and effi- 
cient compliance with all its requisitions. In this, he evinced 
the merit of subjecting to his sense of duty, those predilections 
in favour of France, which he entertained, in common with 
numbers of his fellow-citizens. 

" The present writer then filled a station which gave him 
the best opportunities of observing the official proceedings of 
Governor Mifflin, and he bears a willing testimony to his 
prompt and effective compliance with the requisitions of the 
president, on every occasion. He did not, like the executive 
council in 1783, on the occasion already adverted to, delibe- 
rate and discuss when it was his duty to act. It was a strong 
practical proof, that the executive power, in a republic, is most 
safely confided to a single hand. 

"The absurd insurrection of 1794, could only be sup- 
pressed by the display of great military power; and at the 
head of that portion of the militia of Pennsylvania, which 
went on the service, Gen. Mifflin cheerfully put himself 
under the orders of Gen. Lee, Governor of Virginia, who, in 



184 BIOGRAPHY OF 

the regular army, during the war, had been his inferior in 
rank. In this, he showed his reverence for the constitution 
of the United States ; which, rendering the president com- 
mander-in-chief of the whole, authorized him to assign par- 
ticular services to such officers as he thought proper. 

"Before his commission as governor expired, his fellow- 
citizens, unwilling to part with him as a public man, again 
chose him a member of the state legislature ; in which, how- 
ever, he could not act, till his successor was installed in the 
office of governor. His last official communication in the 
latter character, was on the 7th of December, 1799. It was 
an eloquent valediction, and was respectfully and affection- 
ately answered. He then took his seat in the house of 
representatives, but his shattered constitution disabled him 
from making in it that imposing figure which he had often 
done before. He died, during a session of the house, at Lan- 
caster, on the 21st of January, 1800. Resolutions were 
passed, expressive of his merits and his services as a soldier 
and ' a statesman ;' providing for his interment at the public 
expense and for the erection of a monument to his memory. 

" Thus ended the chequered life of Thomas Mifflin — 
brilliant in its outset — troubled and perplexed at a period 
more advanced — again distinguished, prosperous, and happy 
— finally clouded by poverty and oppressed by creditors. In 
patriotic principle, never changing — in public action, never 
faltering — in personal friendship, sincerely warm — in re- 
lieving the distressed, always active and humane — in his 
own affairs, improvident — in the business of others scrupu- 
lously just." 

W. Rawle, LL.D, 



Who were the children of Pennsylvania that chiefly contributed to deco- 
rate her with laurels? 

When was General Mifflin born, and what business was selected by his 
parents for him ? 

How old was he when he visited Europe, and what was his object? 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 185 

On the breaking out of troubles with the mother country, to what office 
was he chosen by his fellow-citizens ? 

What more elevated post was he honoured with ? 

Who were his colleagues? 

When the news of the battle of Lexington arrived in Philadelphia,'what 
did Mifflin ? 

When he joined the array, what post did he hold ? 

What occurred at Lechmire's Point ? 

After the evacuation of Boston, what commission was he honoured with? 

What is said about the affairs of the country in November, 1776, and how 
was Mifflin occupied ? 

What were the sentiments of the legislature of Pennsylvania, and how did 
they express them in respect to his conduct? 

What took place at Annapolis? 

What stations did he occupy in 1785 and 1788? 

What share had he in forming the Constitution of the Commonwealth ? 

Who was elected the first governor under that instrument ? 

How long did he serve in that capacity ? 

In the insurrection of 1794, what did he do ? 

When did he die? 

What was the action of the legislature on that event ? 



MAJOR GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE. 

Born MDCCXLV— Died MDCCXCVI. 

If the revolutionary congress was pronounced, by an 
eloquent statesman of Europe, to have been an assembly 
more august in its wisdom and virtue, than any convention 
which was ever constituted for national objects, the high 
character of the military chiefs who fought in defence of the 
principles which it set forth, calls for the admiration of the 
world. If it be considered, however, that the heroes of the 
continental legion, were men who trium.phantly contended 
with veterans in the science of war, without that requisite 
training in the profession of arms, which might give some 
warrant of success, the merit of their glorious deeds must be 
immeasurably enhanced. The result of their struggles has 
16* 



186 BIOGRAPHY OF 

not only been the establishment of a government of free and 
liberal institutions, but there can be seen, in the men who 
efTectcd tliis consummation by their courage and patriotism, 
a striking illustration of the development of hidden qualities, 
when circumstances call forth their exercise or employment. 

Previously to the contest between the American colonies 
and the mother country, no occasion had called forth the mili- 
tary talents or services of our population. If, as was the case 
in many sections of the land, the savages committed violence 
upon the frontier settlements, they were repulsed and over- 
come by .the same tactics which themselves practised. There 
Avas not required that systematic knowledge of war, which is 
essential to the success of the chieftain when engaged with a 
foe, directed by the skill and science of an accomplished sol- 
dier. The war of 1757, commonly called the French war, 
had, indeed, called into active service in the field, many of the 
colonists ; but the campaigns were too short to acquire a know- 
ledge in military duties, beyond the first general principles of 
the art of modern warfare. Besides, the forces which were 
raised, almost invariably were under the command of officers 
who were of the standing army of Great Britain, and who 
were not disposed to communicate to men, with whom they 
were to be associated for a short time only, any information 
beyond what was immediately necessary they should possess. 

When the crisis arrived, which demanded that a struggle 
should be made in the cause of liberty, it could not be expected, 
that among the American people any considerable amount of 
military knowledge should be found. Their pursuits had been 
peaceful, and they had never cultivated the art of war upon 
the European system. They, however, shrank not from the 
conflict, though the odds were fearfully against them, in re- 
spect to skill or experience. They braved an enemy who 
had both ; and cared not though the struggle should be un- 
equal. They had willed to be free ; and they resolved that 
they would trust to the sacred cause in which they were en- 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 187 

gaged, for victory. They went like the shepherd youth of 
Israel, with no weapons save the sling and pebbles, to strive 
with the Philistine champion ; and like him, guided by the 
God of battles, they returned from the field with the trophies 
of success. 

When the issue of our revolutionary war is considered, it 
is impossible to withhold an expression of the conviction, that 
the result is to be attributed to him ** who ruleth in the hea- 
vens." With unskilful captains, whose most striking quality 
was that of an entire devotion of life, and all for which men 
would live, to the noble work in which they had enlisted ; — 
with an army destitute of the necessary appointments, which 
alone can give strength and pride to the soldier ; and with an 
enemy, flushed with the glory of fighting under a banner that 
floated proudly in almost every clime, the important conflict 
was begun, which involved in its end the fate of a mighty na- 
tion. With no resources, except such as individual patriotism 
might supply ; and with a government not fully established, 
but relying wholly upon the love of country in the popular 
breast, our rulers nerved themselves for a measure, the bold- 
ness and magnitude of which, at this time, must awaken the 
strongest emotions of wonder and astonishment. The cir- 
cumstances by which they were surrounded, and which could 
not be overcome by the soundest wisdom, did not deter them 
from urging on the work upon which all had been staked. 
And the noble spirits of that day which tried men's souls, 
hastened with enthusiasm to the tremendous struggle. Al- 
though it was long and arduous, yet they never faltered. No 
sufferings could daunt ; no privations could influence them to 
pause, and look back to the course of interest or safety. They 
knew their country was suffering, and they would suffer with 
her, and think it bliss to die in her defence. Sacrifices, such 
as men had never before made ; miseries, such as never an 
army before had endured, were cheerfully borne by that band 
of heroes, who, amid toil and want, amid the carnage of the 



188 BIOGRAPHY OF 

battle-field, or the unheard-of sufferings of an unprovided 
camp, fought and won those blessings which millions now 
partake in abundant fulness. 

Among the heroes of that period, which is an era in the 
history of nations, General Wayne holds a conspicuous rank. 
His services in the war of the revolution, were transcendently 
great ; and none, save the revered chieftain, whom all delight 
to honour, was more instrumental in effecting the object for 
which the united colonies had contended. Possessed of a 
courage, which often approached to imprudence, or even des- 
peration, he, however, by the strength and vigour of an active 
mind, was enabled to aid his country in the employment of an 
excellent judgment, and sound discretion ; whilst, in the battle- 
field, he was the hero, whose voice was always heard rising 
above the awful din where the struggle for life and victory 
was most severe. In the councils of his brave companions he 
displayed an admirable acquaintance with those principles of 
the military art, which it would seem were his by intuition. 
It is true, that the measures which he invariably proposed 
were those of energy and decision ; but yet they were always 
accompanied by the proposition that he should be in the van 
rank of the brave soldiers who might be detailed for their exe- 
cution. Whether a spirit of such gallantry and pure patriotism 
was not required in those trying and gloomy seasons, when 
the most ardent friends of the cause were inclined to doubt as 
to its final issue, cannot be a question with any, who pretend 
to a knowledge of the impulses of the human heart. The 
influence of such an example of devoted gallantry, and of 
such anxiety to share the dangers of the conflict, could not 
fail in exciting and sustaining the courage of those, who might 
otherwise have been inclined, in secret, to withdraw from the 
further prosecution of a work, that oflen was pronounced im- 
practicable. With him, the result was never for a moment in 
doubt or uncertainty. He saw before him a freedom from 
foreign thraldom ; and though it was to be won by sacrifice 



AJNTHONY WAYNE. 189 

and blood, yet he was ready to be the victim ; and if such 
should be his fate, he wished rather to be offered up with his 
armour unbuckled, and his sword unsheathed, than to be found 
in the dishonourable retreat to which pusillanimity or craven 
prudence might point for safety. 

General Wayne was, indeed, a warrior by birth: 

" Fashioned much to honour from his cradle, 
He was a soldier, and a ripe and good one ; 
Exceeding wise, fair spoken and persuading: 
Lofty and sour to those who loved him not. 
But to those men who sought him, sweet as summer." 

Deficient in none of the admirable qualities which are requi-^ 
site in a chief, he possessed those traits of character which are 
the more valued, because the less frequently exhibited by such 
as are invested with command. Possessing the greatest 
courage, and perhaps, in this quality, never surpassed, he 
could properly appreciate it in others. His faithful followers 
rushed with their leader into the battle-strife, from feelings of 
love and regard, as much as from a principle of military obe- 
dience. They admired his gallantry, and its spirit was infused 
into their own breasts. But the constant care which he dis- 
played for their comfort, and the just estimate of their merito- 
rious services, together with the open frankness of his bearing 
to them, enabled him to possess an influence over their hearts, 
which was truly astonishing. Although a rigid disciplinarian, 
and strict in punishing every breach of duty, this affection for 
their leader was never weakened. Whilst the illustrious Wash- 
ington could rely, in the firmest confidence, both upon the 
well-tried courage and military knowledge of this valued 
officer, Wayne, with his Pennsylvania legion, was ever pre- 
pared to undertake any affair, however hazardous, or beset 
with the greatest difficulties. His own heart knew no fear, 
and he was well assured of the unshrinking courage of his 
brave soldiers. 



190 BIOGRAPHY OF 

The memory of this hero should be treasured in the hearts 
of his countrymen ; for the services which he rendered were 
of no common kind ! It was not that he faithRilIy discharged 
his duties as a leader, in the continental army, and that his 
patriotic exertions in the cause of freedom were of extensive 
benefit, that it is required we pronounce his name with reve- 
rence ; but there is, in addition to these, another claim. And 
it arises from the consideration of how great was the influence 
which his superior and gallant bravery had upon the minds 
of the people, at those periods of our revolutionary struggle, 
when a gloomy fear had possessed the breasts of all, as to 
the issue of the contest. In frequent instances, the bold and 
daring conduct of our general, whilst it struck terror in the 
ranks of the enemy, gave new hopes, and inspired with new 
energies his desponding countrymen. His valorous deeds, 
which are the admiration of the world, and which were exe- 
cuted in such rapid succession, produced the most signal 
effects throughout the colonies, at the time when their in- 
fluence was most needed ; and for future historians there 
have been supplied the most ample materials for the grateful 
task of recording an illustrious instance of devoted patriotism 
and courageous enterprise, in war. 

Now to his ashes honour ! — Peace he with him 1 
And choirs of angels sing him to his rest ! 

Anthony Wayne was born in Chester county, January 1, 
1745. His grandfather held a captain's commission under 
King William, at the memorable battle of the Boyne, and 
distinguished himself by his bravery in that severe contest. 
The undeserved neglect of his sovereign, and his firm attach- 
ment to the principles of liberty, caused him to leave Europe, 
and settle in the wilderness of America. He purchased the 
estate upon which our hero was born, and which still con- 
tinues in possession of his descendants. 

The father of General Wayne was a reputable farmer, 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 191 

deservedly honoured with the respect of his fellow-citizens, 
and entrusted by them with their public interests on several 
occasions. He, for a long time, represented the county of 
his birth in the General Assembly of the colony, and from 
his sound judgment, and close attention to his duties of a 
delegate, was a useful and valuable member of that body. 
His withdrawal from public life, afforded an opportunity for 
the flattering expression of the regard which the constituents 
of the father entertained for his son, who was accordingly 
elected the successor of the former in the colonial legislature, 
in 1773. 

About this period, the difficulties between the colonies and 
mother country were assuming an aspect which gave tokens 
of those events that finally terminated in the severance of the 
largest portion of her territory, in North America, from Great 
Britain. Wayne, in this critical period, exhibited that cha- 
racter for decision, and firmness of purpose, which ever after 
was displayed by him. The influence of his station was 
employed to urge that measure, which was afterwards 
adopted by the continental congress, and which, declaring 
the United States free and independent, absolved them from 
every connexion with England. Every occasion was em- 
ployed by him to animate his fellow-citizens to the resistance 
of tyranny ; and the honour which Pennsylvania has won 
for the noble and generous aid she rendered to the cause of 
liberty, throughout the whole revolution, in no small measure 
must be attributed to the successful exertions which he used, 
to excite her people to energetic action. 

In 1775, having received the commission of colonel from 
the continental congress, he immediately, with characteristic 
promptness, commenced recruiting for the regiment which he 
was directed to raise; and in a few weeks, such was his popu- 
larity, and so great the confidence in his capacity and patri- 
otism, that he completed the number of men required. To 
his praise be it recorded, that every individual who had en- 



192 BIOGRAPHY OF 

listed under his command, was of the county in which Colonel 
Wayne was born and reared ! 

With this band of devoted followers, he proceeded, under 
General Thompson, into Canada. The ill success of this en- 
terprise to the continental arms, and the capture of General 
Thompson, need not be dwelt upon in the memoir of a subor- 
dinate in command. It, however, is due to Colonel Wayne 
to observe, that though severely wounded, he exhibited the 
greatest courage and gallantry on the occasion ; and on the 
defeat, after remarkable exertions, succeeded in gathering to- 
gether the dispersed troops, and bringing them off in safety. 

The invading army having retired from Canada, concen- 
trated their forces at Ticonderoga, under the command of 
General Gates. On the departure of this officer from the 
above post, our hero was appointed to its command, and that 
of Mount Independence ; and at the end of the campaign was 
appointed a Brigadier General. His great bravery and skill 
as a military engineer, aided by his previous occupation of a 
land surveyor, had already secured for him an honourable 
renown. 

His anxiety for more active service at length procured for 
him permission to join the army of Washington, then collected 
in New Jersey. On his arrival, he was received with the most 
gratifying evidences of esteem, by his fellow-soldiers. Having 
been placed in command of a brigade, chiefly composed of his 
favourite Pennsylvanians, he soon brought it into the field, in 
a marked style of discipline, and with the special approbation 
of the commander-in-chief, with whom he soon became a fa- 
vourite, and whose confidence he always shared. 

As showing the character of Wayne, and his strong desire 
at this time for engaging the enemy, the following extract 
from a private letter to Dr. Rush, is given. 

" The enemy do not seem to be fond of meeting disciplined 
troops. My brigade offered General Grant battle six times, 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 193 

the other day ; he as often formed, but always, on our ap- 
proach, his people broke and ran, after firing a few volleys, 
which we did not return, being determined to let them feel the 
effects of a close fire ; and then give them the bayonet, under 
cover of the smoke. This hero, who was to march through 
America at the head of five thousand men, by a flank fire of 
our artillery, had his coat much dirtied, his horse's head taken 
off, and himself badly bruised, for having the presumption, at 
the head of several hundred British troops, to face five hundred 
Pennsylvanians. You may rest assured, Sir, that the 
Pennsylvanians will not give up the palm op mili- 
tary GLORY TO any TROOPS ON EARTH." 

On the retreat of the British army from New Jersey, 
Wayne was honoured with the special notice of General 
Washington, in a letter to Congress, for the bravery and skill 
displayed by him and Colonel Morgan, in harassing the enemy 
on their march. 

On the 11th of September, 1777, the first general engage- 
ment took place, upon the banks of the Brandywine, between 
the contending armies. The British force consisted of eighteen 
thousand men, M^ell disciplined and equipped, and commanded 
by some of the most successful generals of Europe, whilst that 
of the Americans numbered hardly fifteen thousand, imper- 
fectly appointed in the materials of war, and but recently 
brought into service. On this occasion, Wayne commanded 
a division, and was directed to oppose himself to Knyphausen, 
the commander of the Hessian allies, and prevent his crossing 
the ford. The conflict was stubborn and severe, particularly 
between the divisions of the two generals, and continued until 
sunset, in all its tremendous violence. Our hero, perceiving 
some confusion on the right of the American army, withdrew 
his division, and with General Washington, retired to Chester, 
waiting for the coming morning. On the next day, the battle 
was renewed by an attack from Wayne, and the assault was 
17 



194 BIOGRAPHY OF 

fierce and determined; but a violent stoini having arisen, 
which prevented the armies from keeping the field, the con- 
test, for the time, was of necessity abandoned. This affair, 
in which so much courage was displayed by all, had a most 
salutary influence upon the friends of liberty throughout the 
colonies. 

The commander-in-chief resolved to venture a second battle 
with the enemy ; and accordingly directed Wayne, who had 
command of the advance division of the army, to press on the 
rear of the British. With his broken force, he encamped, on 
the night of the 20th, in Chester county, about three miles 
from the left wing of the enemy, and near to the Paoli tavern. 
Having used every precaution, as he supposed, against sur- 
prise, his position was believed to be secure. But, it unhap- 
pily had been chosen in the midst of a population of traitors 
to the holy cause in which their country was engaged, and 
they lent their aid to the horrid massacre which ensued. 
Acting as guides to the British general. Gray, they conducted 
him, with a large force, through unfrequented paths, to the 
ground which Wayne occupied. About eleven o'clock in the 
night, the dreadful work of death commenced, with the de- 
structive bayonet alone; and one hundred and fifty, killed 
and wounded, were the victims of a vengeance, which savage 
warfare itself can hardly sanction ! Wayne, immediately 
after the surprise, rallied his remaining force, and successfully 
opposed any further destruction of his brave followers, by a 
desperate onset against his treacherous assailants. On his 
demand, a court of inquiry was appointed ; and the result of 
the examination was an honourable acquittal of a brave leader, 
whose noble and gallant soul could not imagine, that among 
his countrymen there might be a treason, which, in the con- 
summation of its base purpose, would conspire against the 
lives of fellow-citizens by barbarous massacre ! 

In the battle of Germantown, which took place on the 4th 
of October, General Wayne again distinguished himself by 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 195 

his bravery ; having been appointed to the attacking division, 
under the immediate command of General Washington. An 
account of this engagement was transmitted to General Gates 
by him, in which he declares that the enemy were flying in 
perfect confusion, before the victorious Americans, for about 
three hours, and that the fortune of the day was changed 
through the mad attack upon a small garrison of British artil- 
lery, in the stone mansion of B. Chew, Esq. Even this fatal 
error might have been neutralized, had the orders of the com- 
manaer-in-chief been obeyed by General Stephens, whose duty 
it was to prevent a retreat of the British army, as well as to 
oppose any reinforcement from Philadelphia, by taking his 
position at the Rising Sun, about three miles from the latter 
city. Had this part of the plan of operations been executed, 
the capture of the enemy would have been inevitable. 

Perhaps there is not, in the annals of warfare, a more 
gloomy page than that which records the great sufferings and 
privations endured by the American army, in the winter suc- 
ceeding these operations. They were destitute of clothing, 
and even the necessaries of life : yet amid all their distresses, 
their devotion to the cause of their country was unweakened. 
The letters of General Washington to the continental Con- 
gress, written during this afflictive season, must for ever call 
up the most deadened sensibilities of the heart, and warm the 
admiration, of even those who cannot be favourably interested 
in the principles for which they contended, when reminded 
that the track of the soldiery was reddened with blood from 
their bare feet, when marching to their log- huts at Valley 
Forge. 

To prevent the famine which was threatening this distressed 
garrison, General Wayne was ordered by Washington, at a 
most teiiipestuous and inclement season, to secure the cattle 
in New Jersey, near to the Delaware, and to destroy the 
forage which could not be removed. After a number of skir- 
mishes, or rather battles, with the enemy, in which he showed 



196 BIOGRAPHY OF 

his usual courage, and all the talents of a partisan chief, he 
was successful in removing several hundred fine cattle, a 
number of horses, and large quantities of provender. For this 
timely succour, obtained through the most dangerous service, 
in an enemy's district, he received the thanks of his chief, and 
the blessings of an impoverished army. 

The opening of the campaign of 1778, was followed by the 
memorable battle of Monmouth Court House, N. J., to the 
hazarding of which, all the general officers, except Cadwal- 
lader and Wayne, were opposed. That the action was most 
favourable in its issue, and that it fully met the expectations 
of Washington, who planned it, it is thought best to show from 
the letter of General Wayne, written to his family after the 
event. 

^^ Spottswood, 1st Jult/y 1778. 
*' On Sunday, the 28th of June, our flying army came in 
view of the enemy, about eight o'clock in the morning, when 
I was ordered to advance and attack them with a few men ; 
the remainder of the corps under General Lee, was to have 
supported me : we accordingly advanced and received a charge 
from the British horse and infantry, which was soon repulsed. 
Our general, however, thought proper to order a retreat, in 
place of advancing, without firing a single shot, the enemy 
following in force, which rendered it very difficult for the 
small force I had, to gain the main body, being hard pushed, 
and frequently nearly surrounded. After falling back almost 
a mile, we met his Excellency, who, surprised at our retreat, 
knowing that officers as well as men were in high spirits, and 
wished for nothing more than to be faced about and meet the 
British fire, he accordingly ordered me to keep post, where he 
met us, having a body of troops with two pieces of artillery 
then under my command, and to keep the enemy in play, 
until he had an opportunity of forming the main army and 
restoring order. 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 197 

"We had just taken post, when the enemy began their 
attack with horse, foot, and artillery ; the fire of their united 
force obliged us, after a severe conflict, to give way ; after 
which, a most severe cannonade, accompanied by small-arms, 
was opened by our lefl wing on the enemy, which gave them 
an effectual check. During the interval which this occasioned, 
every possible exertion was made use of by his Excellency 
and the other generals, to spirit up the troops, and prepare 
them for another trial. 

" The enemy began to advance again in a heavy column, 
with a view of turning our left flank, but in this they failed. 
They then made a similar effort on our right, and whilst our 
artillery was handsomely playing on them, I advanced with a 
strong body of troops — we met the enemy — the contest was 
exceedingly warm and well maintained on each side for a 
considerable time ; at length victory declared for us ; British 
courage failed, and was forced to give way to American valour. 

" Afler retreating a considerable distance, the enemy took 
a strong position. General Washington, although many of 
our men were falling with thirst, heat, and fatigue, resolved 
to renew the action, and made his dispositions for that pur- 
pose, but night prevented their final execution. 

" We encamped on the field of battle, with a view of re- 
commencing the action in the morning, but Sir Henry deemed 
it prudent to evade this, by retreating in the dead of night ; 
afler having interred many of his killed, yet leaving us to 
bury some of his distinguished officers, and two hundred and 
forty-five of his soldiers, besides taking charge of a great 
number of his wounded. Our loss in this affair, consists of 
a few gallant officers killed and wounded, and many brave 
soldiers in a similar state. 

" Every general and other officer, (one excepted,) did every 
thing that could be expected on this great occasion, but Penn- 
sylvania showed the road to victory." 
17* 



198 BIOGRAPHY OF 

The conduct of General Lee, in the affair of Monmouth, 
which is a portion of our revolutionary history, called for an 
investigation hy court-martial, and the testimony of General 
Wayne was given with the bold frankness of an honourable 
soldier. An angry correspondence ensued between these 
officers, and intimations in the course of it were made of a 
resort to personal satisfaction. On the termination of the 
proceedings, however. General Lee magnanimously, and from 
the dictates of a noble impulse, transmitted to General Wayne 
the following letter. 

''Berkeley County, Aug. lltk, 1779. 
« Dear Sir, 

" You will do me the justice to acknowledge, that at the 
time I was taught to think, I am sure without foundation, that 
you were one of the most active in my prosecution, I gave it 
as my opinion, that you were a brave officer and an honest 
man. You must likewise recollect, that when you sent me a 
certain message, at Elizabethtown, I told you that if I was 
appointed to a command, and had my choice of brigadiei-s, 
you should be one of my first election. I hope, therefore, that 
what I am now going to say, you will not consider as paying 
my court, in this your hour of glory ; for as it is, at least, my 
present intention to leave this continent, where I have been 
scurvily and ungratefully treated, I can have no interest in 
paying my court to any individual. What I shall say, there- 
fore, is dictated by the genuine feeling of my heart. I do 
most sincerely declare, that your action in the assault of 
Stony Point, is not only the most brilliant, in my opinion, 
through the whole course of the war, on either side, but that 
it was one of the most brilliant I am acquainted with in his- 
tory ; the assault of Schweidnitz, by marshal Laudun, I think 
inferior to it. I wish you, therefore, most sincerely, joy of 
the laurels you have deservedly acquired, and that you may 
long live to wear them ; and if you have leisure, as I am curi- 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 199 

ous in these details, to inform me of the particular order of 
your disposition, you will much oblige one who is, without 
flattery, with respect, and no small admiration, 

" Your most obedient humble servant, 

" Charles Lee. 
" Brigadier-general Wayne." 

The operations of the campaign are remembered with dis- 
tinctness by all, the least conversant in American history, 
on account of the splendid affair at Stony Point. In July of 
this year, Washington determined to carry into effect the 
design of destroying this post, and honoured Wayne with 
the execution of the enterprise. The garrison was com- 
manded by Colonel Johnston. The defences of the place 
were deemed impregnable, as well from the great elevation 
of the rock, the base of which on one side is washed by the 
Hudson river, and on the other surrounded by a treacherous 
morass, passable but at one spot ; as from the formidable 
batteries erected on the top, and the breast-works which 
were placed along the sides, commanding the above crossing 
place. This fortification, supplied with all the munitions 
for a defence against the most violent assault, was also pro- 
tected at the time by several vessels of war, lying before it, 
in the river. 

With his brave band, chiefly detailed from the Pennsylva- 
nia line, of which he always had command. General Wayne 
arrived at eight o'clock in the evening of the 15th of July, 
within a mile and a half of the formidable redoubt, and after 
reconnoitering the ground, made the requisite dispositions 
for the assault. About midnight, he led his troops, with un- 
loaded muskets, and fixed bayonets, to the attack, and with- 
out discharging a single gun, carried the fort ; making the 
garrison which remained after the assault, and amounting to 
five hundred and forty men, prisoners of war. The resist- 
ance offered by Colonel Johnston and his brave soldiers, 



200 BIOGRAPHY OF 

was very spirited, and the hazardous nature of the enterprise 
can be comprehended by the statement, which is a matter of 
record, that the forlorn hope, under the command of Lieu- 
tenant Gibbon, consisting of twenty self-devoted associates in 
this desperate undertaking, numbered but three surviving 
members at its glorious termination. 

In this terrible rencontre. General Wayne was seriously 
wounded on the first assault upon the redoubt; and under 
the apprehension that his death was the inevitable conse- 
quence, he begged that he might be carried into the fort; 
where, amidst the triumphs of his victory, he should die, 
with the assurance that his blood had not flown in vain, in 
the cause to which he had consecrated his life. It is in 
hallowed gratitude to the Governor of Nations, that his 
impressions in respect to his immediate dissolution, were 
not confirmed, and that he lived to enjoy the merited honours 
which his country rejoiced to confer upon him ! By a vote 
of Congress, a gold medal was directed to be presented to 
him for his gallant conduct ; and throughout the federative 
provinces, there prevailed the one, single sentiment, that the 
hero of Pennsylvania had given, by this individual action, an 
assurance that there yet remained reason to hope, that in a 
nation's struggles, there would not be wanting, those, who 
were gifted with a capacity to lead them to a prosperous 
issue. 

It is due to the interest which this renowned action of 
Wayne must always excite, even in ages yet to come, to pre- 
sent the orders, given on the occasion of his memorable 
assault. They are transcribed from his orderly-book, and 
supply an instance of a calm, indomitable courage, which has 
never been excelled by any hero of surviving reputation. 

General Orders and dispositions for the attack. 

" The troops will march at — o'clock, and move by the 
right, making a short halt at the creek, or run, on this side, 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 201 

next Clement's ; every officer and non-commissioned officer 
will remain with, and be answerable for, every man in his 
platoon ; no soldier to be permitted to quit his ranks on any 
pretext whatever, until a general halt is made, and then to be 
attended by one of the officers of the platoon. 

" When the head of the troops arrive in rear of the hill, 
Colonel Febiger will form his regiment into a solid column 
of a half platoon, in front, as fast as they come up ; Colonel 
Meigs will form next, in Colonel Febiger's rear, and Major 
Hull in the rear of Meigs's, which will form the right column. 

" Colonel Butler will form a column on the left of Febiger, 
and Major Murfree in his rear. Every officer and soldier 
will then fix a piece of white paper in the most conspicuous 
part of his hat or cap, as a mark to distinguish him from the 
enemy. At the word march, Colonel Fleury will take 
charge of one hundred and fifty determined and picked men, 
properly officered, with arms unloaded, placing their whole 
dependence on fixed bayonets, who will move about twenty 
paces in front of the right column, and enter the sally-port 
marked ; he is to detach an officer, and twenty men, a little 
in front, whose business will be to secure the sentries, and 
remove the abatis and obstructions, for the column to pass 
through. The column will follow close in the rear, with 
shouldered muskets, led by Colonel Febiger and General 
Wayne in person. When the works are forced, and not 

before, the victorious troops will give the watchword, * 

with repeated and loud voices, and drive the enemy from 
their works and guns, which will favour the pass of the 
whole troops ; should the enemy refuse to surrender, or 
attempt to make their escape by water, or otherwise, effec- 
tual means must be used to effect the former, and prevent the 
latter. 

" Colonel Butler will move by the route (2) preceded by 
one hundred chosen men, with fixed bayonets, properly offi- 

* Remember Paoli I 



202 BIOGRAPHY OF 

cered, at the distance of twenty yards in front of the column, 
which will follow, under Colonel Butler, with shouldered mus- 
kets. These hundred will also detach a proper officer, and 
twenty men, a little in front, to remove the obstructions, &c. ; 
as soon as they gain the works, they will also give, and con- 
tinue the watchword, which will prevent confusion and mis- 
take. If any soldier presume to take his musket from his 
shoulder, or to fire, or begin the battle until ordered by his 
proper officer, he shall be instantly put to death by the officer 
next him ; for the misconduct of one man is not to put the 
whole troops in danger, or disorder, and he be suffered to pass 
with lile. After the troops begin to advance to the works, the 
strictest silence must be observed, and the closest attention 
paid to the commands of the officers. 

" The general has the fullest confidence in the bravery and 
fortitude of the corps that he has the happiness to command. 
The distinguished honour conferred on every officer and sol- 
dier, who has been drafted into this corps by his excellency, 
General Washington, the credit of the states they respectively 
belong to, and their own reputations, will be such powerful 
motives for each man to distinguish himself, that the general 
cannot have the least doubt of a glorious victory ; and he, 
hereby, most solemnly engages to reward the first man who 
enters the works, with five hundred dollars and immediate 
promotion ; to the second, four hundred dollars ; to the third, 
three hundred dollars ; to the fourth, two hundred dollars ; 
and to the fifth, one hundred dollars ; and he will represent 
the conduct of every officer and soldier, who distinguishes 
himself in this action, in the most favourable point of view to 
his excellency, whose greatest pleasure is rewarding merit. 
But should there be any soldier so lost to feelings of honour, 
as to attempt to retreat one single foot, or skulk in the face of 
danger, the officer next to him is immediately to put him to 
death, that he may no longer disgrace the name of a soldier, 
or the corps, or the state to which he belongs. 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 203 

" As General Wayne is determined to share the danger of 
the night, so he wishes to participate in the glory of the day, 
in common with his fellow-soldiers." 

The qualities of courage and military judgment, exhihited 
by Wayne, in the instances above recorded, were displayed 
by him throughout the whole course of service in the cause 
of his country's independence. In the campaign of 1781, he 
bore a conspicuous part, and acquired fresh laurels in every 
instance of his engagement with the enemy. It is recorded 
of him, that having been deceived into the belief' that only a 
portion of Cornwallis's army had crossed the James River, he 
attacked the party on the shores immediately presenting them- 
selves. The violent and unexpected resistance which he met, 
however, convinced him of his error. But nothing daunted, 
he bravely pushed on the attack; and, from its boldness, the 
enemy supposed it to be the leading assault of approaching 
numbers. It need not be a matter of special record, that in 
the transactions of a campaign, which was closed with the 
surrender of Cornwallis and his forces, that one, who had 
thus distinguished himself in the course of our struggle for 
liberty, fulfilled the expectations of his admirers. In the first 
conflict, he was the courageous champion of the rights of man ; 
and after the last triumphant struggle, he stood by the side of 
Washington and La Fayette, to receive the acknowledgment, 
that the majesty of their principles claimed the submission of 
those who had previously warred against them ! 

It is due, however, to this hero of Pennsylvania and her 
gallant army, to give the particulars of an afl^air, which was 
the concluding battle in the history of our revolutionary strug- 
gle. It will be seen how nobly these devoted patriots in the 
cause of' their country, sustained themselves unto the very 
termination of the conflict ; and how the brave sons of our 
beloved state had the honour of striking the last blow in the 
field of freedom's war! The account is given by the late 
Chief Justice Marshall, in his valuable life of Washington. 



204 BIOGRAPHY OF 

" When General Wayne entered Georgia, the British troops 
retired to Savannah, and the Americans advanced to Ebenezer. 

Propositions for the suspension of hostilities were made 
in the Southern department about the time that they were 
rejected in the North. The same motives continuing to in- 
fluence Congress, they were rejected in the South also, and 
the armies still continued to watch each other. While the 
whole attention of Wayne was directed towards Savannah, an 
unlooked-for enemy came upon his rear, entered his camp in 
the night, and, had not his army been composed of the best 
materials, must have dispersed it. 

A strong party of Creeks, marching entirely in the night, 
guided by white men through unfrequented ways, subsisting 
on meal made of parched corn, reached the neighbourhood of 
the American army undiscovered ; and, emerging in the night 
from a deep swamp which had concealed them, entered the 
rear of the camp about three in the morning of the 23d of 
June. The sentinel was killed before he could sound the 
alarm, and the first notice of danger was given by the fire 
and yell of the enemy. They rushed into the camp, and, 
killing the few men they met with, seized the artillery. For- 
tunately, some time was wasted in attempting to turn the 
pieces. Captain Parker, with his company, had returned that 
evening from a fatiguing tour of duty, and they were asleep 
in the rear, near the artillery, when the Indians entered the 
camp. Roused by the fire, and perceiving the enemy, he 
drew off his men in silence, and formed them, with the quar- 
ter-guard, behind the general's house. W^ayne was instantly 
on horseback, believing the whole garrison of Savannah to be 
upon him. Parker was directed to charge immediately with 
the bayonet, and orders were dispatched to Posey to bring up 
the troops in camp without delay. The orders to Parker 
were executed so promptly, that Posey could not reach the 
scene of action in time to join in it. The Indians, unable to 
resist the bayonet, soon fled ; leaving their chief, his white 



ANTHONY WAYNE. 205 

guides, and seventeen of his warriors, dead on the spot. Only 
twelve prisoners were made. The general's horse was shot 
under him, and twelve privates were killed and wounded. 

This sharp conflict terminated the war in Georgia. Sa- 
vannah was evacuated on the 11th of July, and Wayne 
rejoined General Greene." 

After the peace, we find General Wayne honoured with 
several important stations in civil life. He was a delegate 
to the respective conventions that prepared the late constitution 
of Pennsylvania, and that of the United States, and in both 
bodies he was regarded as a valuable member. 

In the year 1792, he was appointed to succeed General 
St. Clair, who had previously resigned his command in the 
army, and was ordered to proceed against a formidable force 
of Indians, then ravaging our western frontier. They had 
twice defeated the armies sent against them, and were flushed 
with victory, and insolent from past success. The enterprise 
was considered, by all, as extremely hazardous, and its suc- 
cess doubtful. But the appointment of Wayne was made by 
General Washington, who well knew the capacity of the 
officer in whom he had confided this honourable trust, and 
the expectations of the commander-in-chief, and of the coun- 
try, were not disappointed. 

In a short time, his troops, who were raw recruits, were 
disciplined and prepared for the campaign. Having advanced 
into the country occupied by the savages, he adopted the 
precautions necessary against a surprise from his treacherous 
foe. On the 20th of August, 1793, the army of Wayne 
commenced a general attack upon the enemy, and so violent 
and decisive was it, that in a few hours they were defeated 
with immense loss. To chastise them for their massacres 
of the border settlers, and to strike such terror into them, as 
hereafter might efl^ectually deter the tribes from future out- 
rages, he destroyed all their huts and corn-fields; and the 
18 



206 BIOGRAPHY OF 

country which they lately held by violence, presented all the 
traces of devastation and ruin. 

The signal defeat of the Indians was succeeded by a peace 
throughout our vast and uncultivated territory, which endured 
for many years, through the influence of this memorable 
battle, upon the fears of our savage neighbours. The frontier 
settlements were no longer disturbed by the war-whoop of 
the murderous red-man, but a rapid improvement of the wil- 
derness was every where visible, and security was once more 
enjoyed by the adventurer. It need not be remarked, that to 
the services of General Wayne are these advantages to be 
referred, in a great measure. 

With no immediate claims upon him, from that country 
which he had so honourably and effectually served, on the 
termination of the Indian war, he retired to his estate in 
Chester county. Here, in the midst of his beloved family, 
he lived in the enjoyment of their afTection and reverence, 
and with the inward gratification of having rendered impor- 
tant services to the land of his birth. In the year 1796, 
having proceeded to the north-west frontier of the state, in 
the discharge of some military duty, he was attacked with 
a severe sickness, and in the month of December, this brave 
soldier expired, in an humble hut on the shores of Lake Erie. 
His remains were afterwards removed to the family cemetery ; 
and over them a neat monument has been raised, to show 
where repose the ashes of the brave warrior. 



When and where was General Wayne born ? 
What is said about his grandfather ? 
What about his father ? 

On the commencement of our revolutionary struggle, what commission did 
he hold ? 

Of what county in the state were his military followers ? 

To what part of North America did his first expedition proceed ? 

At the end of this campaign, to what rank was he promoted ? 

Whose division of the army did he now join? 

In his letter to Dr. Rush, what does he say about Colonel Grant? 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 207 

What is said about the battle of Brandy wine ? 

What about the massacre of Paoli ? 

Mention the incidents of the battle of Germantown. 

Tell about the privations of the succeeding winter. 

What affair took place at Monmouth in 1778 ? 

How did General Lee conduct himself; and what did he write to Wayne? 

Tell about the storming of Stony Point. 

What occurred in the campaign of 1781 ? 

What is said about the affair in Georgia ? 

What troops struck the final blow in the war for independence ? 

What was Wayne's conduct in the Indian war of 1792? 

When and where did he die ? 



COMMODORE STEPHEN DECATUR. 

Born MDCCLXXIX — Died MDCCCXX. 

No department of our government was organized with more 
difficulty, as regards the operation of an extraneous influence 
through the irresistible efTect of public sentiment, than that of 
the navy. From causes, which at this time, it would be al- 
most impossible to comprehend, a large and powerful party 
had arrayed itself against the establishment of a marine force, 
even sufficient to protect the colonies, in 1775. The princi- 
ples upon which the opposition rested, were chiefly those of 
economy ; and the erroneous supposition, that the creation of 
cuch a power would be hazardous to the liberties of the nation. 

The resistance was sufficiently protracted to beget a factious 
and hostile spirit among our countrymen, and which was ac- 
tively exhibited on every attempt to increase this power, be- 
yond the most distinct and pressing necessity. It became one 
of the most serious questions in our policy of government ; 
and like all other popular subjects, was discussed with ear- 
nestness. Even so far had the measure been agitated, that it 
was a leading principle with many, to oppose every proposition 



208 BIOGRAPHY OF 

that its friends brought forward, to strengthen this arm of 
national defence to the extent which the honour of our country 
required. 

Pressed down by such circumstances of hostility, our small, 
though gallant navy, fought itself into favour, by a succession 
of victories, that have called forth the admiration of the world. 
In the gaining of these, it would seem that both officers and 
men exercised their bravery, not only from the sacred feelings 
of patriotism, but with a resolution to exhibit to their mistaken 
countrymen, the advantages of this power, as a means of na- 
tional defence. And well, indeed, have they succeeded in 
thus destroying an error which had long fastened itself upon 
the popular mind ! Whilst covering themselves with im- 
perishable glory, they benefited, to the greatest extent, the 
gervice, which they honoured by their bravery and skill. 
Prejudice was weakened, if not entirely destroyed ; and this 
department is now regarded with that consideration which its 
merits and importance claim for it. 

The services of Decatur, both in the cause of his country, 
and in thus changing popular opinion in respect to the Ame- 
rican navy, by his gallantry, are deservedly acknowledged 
by all. They were of a nature which will always call forth 
the tribute of praise and honour ; for they have added to his 
nation's glory, and procured for his own name an enduring 
renown. 

The ancestors of this brave officer were Huguenots, and 
residents of La Rochelle, in France, until the persecutions of 
Louis XIV., which followed the repeal of the edict of Nantz, 
compelled them to fly from their country. His grandfather, 
with others, who had emigrated with him, settled in Rhode 
Island, and married a lady of that slate. The father of the 
subject of this memoir, was born in Newport, and at an early 
age removed to Philadelphia, where for a season he pursued 
the business of a merchant, and occasionally took the com- 
mand of a vessel ; having been bred to the profession of a 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 209 

sailor. When the navy was first estabHshed, he was honoured 
with the command of the sloop-of-war Delaware ; and his 
conduct whilst in this situation was such as to give an earnest 
of future usefulness to his country, when an occasion should 
present itself. On the completion of the frigate Philadelphia, 
which had been built by the contributions of the merchants of 
the city, whose name she bore, he was placed in command of 
her, through the strong recommendation of those who were 
instrumental in her construction. In this commission he con- 
tinued until the termination of the war with France, when he 
retired from the service, and settled on an estate, about five 
miles from Philadelphia. His capacity and courage as an 
officer were frequently exhibited, in a manner which has se- 
cured for his name a large measure of credit. 

Stephen Decatur was born January 5th, 1779. After re- 
ceiving an education, which would qualify him for the pro- 
fession to which his inclination had led him, he obtained a 
midshipman's warrant, in 1798, when nineteen years of age. 
He immediately repaired to the frigate United States, and 
commenced his brilliant career of honour and glory, under 
Commodore Barry, then in command of the above vessel of 
war. His strict attention to duty, and the daring courage 
which he always manifested, when an opportunity would call 
it forth, endeared him to his commanding officer and others. 
He was rapidly, though deservedly promoted to the rank of 
lieutenant, and remained in the frigate to which he was first 
appointed, until she was ordered to be repaired. At his ur- 
gent request, he was privileged to join the brig Norfolk, then 
bound to the Spanish Main, and sailed in her as first lieuten- 
ant, under the expectation that some occasion might afford 
him a chance for signalizing himself in the service of his 
country. On her return, he resumed his station on board the 
United States, and remained in it until the close of the French 
war. 

His next appointment was to the Essex, and he was directed 
18* 



210 BIOGRAPHY OF 

to join the squadron under the command of Commodore Dale, 
then destined for the Mediterranean, to protect our commerce 
against the piratical depredations of the Turk. In the second 
expedition, he joined the New York, which was one of the 
squadron, under the command of Commodore Morris. On 
both these occasions, he won the regard of his superiors, by 
his strict obedience to duty, and his venturous bravery. 

Having returned to America, he sohcited the privilege of 
immediately proceeding to the Mediterranean, in order that 
he might participate in the war, which it was seen, was inevi- 
tably to occur with at least one of the Barbary Powers. His 
request was granted by his country, and Lieutenant Decatur 
was ordered to the command of the Argus. He proceeded to 
join the squadron of Commodore Preble, then in the above 
sea ; and as previously directed, resigned the Argus to Lieu- 
tenant Hull, his senior officer, and took the command of the 
Enterprize, in the commission of which, this gentleman was 
on his arrival. This exchange having been made, he pro- 
ceeded to Syracuse, the place of rendezvous for the squadron. 
The information he received on reaching Syracuse, at once 
awakened that spirit of adventure, which he had exhibited on 
every previous occasion, but which now had for its object an 
enterprize, by the successful execution of which, he has earned 
an immortal renown. 

The frigate Philadelphia, commanded by Captain Bain- 
bridge, in chasing a corsair, had run aground on the Barbary 
coast, and fallen into the hands of the Tripolitans. Every 
means had been employed to render her unfit for future ser- 
vice, before deserting her : but in a Cew days she was floated, 
and anchored under the batteries of Tripoli, where she was 
repaired. She was an acquisition to the marine of the Turk, 
of no mean importance, and might have become a formidable 
weapon against our squadron. Captain Bainbridge, in a letter 
to Commodore Preble, had suggested the practicability of de- 
stroying her, and the latter officer communicated the opinion 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 211 

to young Decatur. His ardent temperament, and unquencha- 
ble thirst for glory, at once induced him to volunteer in the 
hazardous service ; and he was finally permitted by his com- 
manding officer to undertake the formidable enterprize. A 
ketch, which a short time before had been captured from the 
enemy, was placed under his command, and the Intrepid, 
which was the name his vessel now bore, was soon filled with 
the requisite number of officers and men ; all panting to dis- 
tinguish themselves in an affair of such danger. Under con- 
voy of the Siren sloop of war, commanded by Lieutenant 
Stewart, our hero proceeded to the scene, where his gallantry 
and fearless courage were to be evidenced. The following 
extract from Cooper's Naval History, furnishes a graphic and 
vivid account of the aflJair. 

"The orders of Lieutenant Commandant Decatur were 
clear and simple. The spar-deck was first to be carried, and 
then the gun-deck ; after which, the following distribution of 
the party was made, in order to set fire to the ship. Mr. De- 
catur, with Messrs. Izard and Rowe, and fifteen men, were 
to keep possession of the upper deck : Mr. Lawrence, with 
Messrs. Laws and M'Donough, and ten men, were to repair 
to the berth-deck, and forward store-rooms. Mr. Bainbridge, 
with Mr. Davis, and ten men, were to go into the ward-room 
and steerage ; Mr. Morris, with eight men, was to go into the 
cock-pit and after store-room ; Mr. Thorn, with the gunner, 
surgeon, and thirteen men, were to look after the ketch ; to 
Mr. Izard was assigned the command of the launch, should 
she be needed ; and Mr. Anderson, with the Siren's cutter, 
was to secure all boats alongside of the ship, and to prevent 
the people from swimming ashore, with directions, however, 
to board, as soon as the first duty was performed. 

" Fire-arms were to be used only in the last extremity, and 
the first object of every one was to clear the upper-deck, and 



212 BIOGRAPHY OF 

gun-deck of the enemy. These arrangements were plain and 
judicious. The watchword was ' Philadelphia.' 

" As the ketch drew in with the land, the ship became visi- 
ble. She lay not quite a mile within the entrance, riding to 
the wind, and abreast of the town. Her foremast, which had 
been cut away while she was on the reef, had not yet been 
replaced ; her main and mizzen-topmasts were housed, and her 
lower yards were on the gunwales. Her lower standing rig- 
ging, however, was in its place, and, as was shortly afterwards 
ascertained, her guns were loaded and shotted. Just within 
her lay two corsairs, with a Cew gun-boats and a galley. 

" It was a mild evening for the season, and the sea and bay 
were smooth as in summer, as unlike as possible to the same 
j)lace, a few days previously, when the two vessels had been 
driven from the enterprize by a tempest. 

" Perceiving that he was likely to get in too soon, when 
about five miles from the rocks, Mr. Decatur ordered buckets, 
and other drags, to be towed astern, in order to lessen the 
way of the ketch, without shortening sail, as the latter expe- 
dient would have been seen from the fort, and must have 
awakened suspicion. In the mean time, the wind gradually 
fell, until it became so light as to leave the ketch but about 
two knots' way on her, when the drags were removed. 

" About ten o'clock, the Intrepid reached the eastern en- 
trance of the bay, or the passage between the rocks and the 
shoal. The wind was nearly east, and, as she steered di- 
rectly for the frigate, it was well abaft the beam. There was 
a young moon, and as these bold adventurers were slowly 
advancing into a hostile port, all around them was tranquil, 
and apparently without distrust. For near an hour they were 
stealing slowly along, the air gradually failing, until their 
motion became scarcely perceptible. 

" Most of the ofliccrs and men of the ketch had been ordered 
to lie on the deck, where they were concealed by low bul- 
warks, or weather-boards, and by the different objects that 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 213 

belong to a vessel. As it is the practice of those seas to carry 
a number of men, even in the smallest craft, the appearance 
of ten or twelve men would excite no alarm, and this number 
was visible. The commanding ofRcer himself stood near the 
pilot, Mr. Catalano, who was to act as interpreter. 

" The quarter-master at the helm, was ordered to stand 
directly for the frigate's bows, it being the intention to lay the 
ship aboard in that place, as the mode of attack which would 
least expose the assailants to her fire. 

"The Intrepid was still at a considerable distance from the 
Philadelphia, when the latter hailed. The pilot answered that 
the ketch belonged to Malta, and was on a trading voyage; 
that she had been nearly wrecked, and had lost her anchors 
in the late gale, and that her commander wished to ride by 
the frigate during the night. 

" This conversation lasted some time ; Mr. Decatur in- 
structing the pilot to tell the frigate's people with what he was 
laden, in order to amuse them ; and the Intrepid gradually 
ran nearer, until there was every prospect of her running foul 
of the Philadelphia, in a minute or two, and at the very spot 
contemplated. But the wind suddenly shifted, and took the 
ketch aback. The instant the southerly puff struck her, her 
head fell off, and she got a stern-board, the ship, at the same 
moment, tending to the new current of air. The effect of this 
unexpected change was to bring the ketch directly under the 
frigate's broadside, at the distance of about forty yards, where 
she was perfectly becalmed, or if any thing, drifting slowly 
astern, exposed to nearly every one of the Philadelphia's lar- 
board guns. 

" Not the smallest suspicion appeared to have yet been 
excited on board the frigate, though several of her people were 
looking over her rails; and notwithstanding the moonlight, so 
completely were the Turks deceived, that they lowered a boat, 
and sent it with a fast. Some of the ketch's men, in the mean 
time, had got into her boat, and had run a line to the frigate^s 



214 BIOGRAPHY OF 

fore-chains. As Ihey returned, they met the frigate's boat, 
took the fast it brought, which canne fronn the after part of the 
ship, and passed it into their own vessel. These fasts were 
put into the hands of the men, as they lay on the ketch's deck, 
and they began cautiously to breast the Intrepid alongside of 
the Philadelphia, without rising. As soon as the latter got 
near enough to the ship, the Turks discovered her anchors, 
and they sternly ordered the ketch to keep off, as she had 
deceived them, preparing at the same time to cut the fasts. 
All this passed in a moment, when the cry of ' Americanos,' 
was heard in the ship. The people of the Intrepid, by a strong 
pull, brought their vessel along-side of the frigate, where she 
was secured quick as thought. Up to this moment, not a 
whisper had betrayed the presence of the men concealed. 
The instructions had been positive, to keep quiet until com- 
manded to show themselves, and no precipitation, even in that 
trying moment, deranged the plan. 

*' Lieutenant Commandant Decatur was standing ready for 
a spring, with Messrs. Laws and Morris quite near him. As 
soon as close enough, he jumped at the frigate's chain-plates, 
and, while clinging to the ship himself, he gave the order to 
board. The two midshipmen were at his side, and all the 
officers and men of the Intrepid arose and followed. The 
three gentlemen named were in the chains together, and 
Lieutenant Commandant Decatur and Mr. Morris sprang at 
the rail above them, while Mr. Laws dashed at a port. To 
the latter would have belonged the honour of having been 
first in this gallant assault, but wearing a boarding belt, his 
pistols were caught between the gun and the side of the 
port. Mr. Decatur's foot slipped in springing, and Mr. 
Charles Morris first stood on the quarter-deck of the Phila- 
delphia. In an instant Lieutenant Commandant Decatur and 
Mr. Laws were at his side, while heads and bodies appeared 
coming over the rail, and through the ports, in all directions. 

" The surprise appears to have been as perfect as the as- 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 215 

sault was rapid and earnest. Most of the Turks on deck 
crowded forward, and all ran over to the starboard side, as 
their enemies poured in on the larboard. A few were aft, 
but as soon as charged, they leaped into the sea. Indeed, 
the constant plunges into the water, gave the assailants the 
assurance that their enemies were fast lessening in number, 
by flight. It took but a minute or two to clear the spar-deck, 
though there was more of a struggle below. Still, so admi- 
rably managed was the attack, and so complete the surprise, 
that the resistance was but trifling. In less than ten minutes 
Mr. Decatur was on the quarter-deck again, in undisturbed 
possession of his prize. There can be no doubt that this 
gallant officer now felt bitter regrets, that it was not in his 
power to bring away the ship he had so nobly recovered. 
Not only were his orders on this point peremptory, however, 
but the frigate had not a sail bent, nor a yard crossed, and 
she wanted her foremast. It was next to impossible, there- 
fore, to remove her, and the command was given to pass up 
the combustibles from the ketch. 

" The duty of setting fire to the prize, appears to have 
been executed with as much promptitude and order, as 
every other part of the service. The officers distributed 
themselves, agreeably to the previous instruction, and the 
men soon appeared with the necessary means. Each party 
acted by itself, as it got ready. So rapid were they all 
in their movements, that the men with combustibles had 
scarcely time to get as low as the cock-pit and, after store- 
rooms, before the fires were lighted over their heads. When 
the officer entrusted with the duty last mentioned, had got 
through, he found the after-hatches filled with smoke, from 
the fire in the ward-room and steerage, and he was obliged 
to make his escape by the forward ladders. The Ameri- 
cans were in the ship from twenty to twenty-five minutes, 
and they were literally driven out of her by the flames. The 
vessel had got to be so dry, in that low latitude, that she 



216 BIOGRAPHY OF 

burnt like pine ; and the combustibles had been as judiciously 
prepared, as they were steadily used. The last party up, 
were the people who had been in the store-rooms, and when 
they reached the deck, they found most of their companions 
already in the Intrepid. Joining them, and ascertaining that 
all was ready, the order was given to cast off. Notwithstand- 
ing the daring character of the enterprise in general, Mr. 
Decatur and his party now ran the greatest risks they had 
incurred that night. So fierce had the conflagration already 
become, that the flames began to pour out of the ports, and 
the head-fast having been cast off, the ketch fell astern, with 
her jigger flapping against the quarter-gallery, and her boom 
foul. The fire showed itself in the window, at this critical 
moment ; and beneath, was all the ammunition of the party, 
covered with a tarpaulin. To increase the risk, the stern- 
fast was jammed. By using swords, however, for there 
was not time to look for an axe, the hawser was cut, and the 
Intrepid was extricated from the most imminent danger, by 
a vigorous shove. As she swung clear of the frigate, the 
flames reached the rigging, up which they went, hissing like 
a rocket, the tar having oozed from the ropes, which had 
been saturated with that inflammable matter. Matches could 
not have kindled with greater quickness. The sweeps were 
now manned. Up to this moment, every thing had been done 
earnestly, though without noise ; but as soon as they felt that 
they had got command of their ketch again, and by two or 
three vigorous strokes, had sent her away from the frigate, 
the people of the Intrepid ceased rowing, and as one man, 
they gave three cheers, for victory. This appeared to arouse 
the Turks from their stupor, for the cry had hardly ended, 
when the batteries, the two corsairs, and the galley poured in 
their fire. The men laid hold of the sweeps again, of which 
the Intrepid had eight of a side, and favoured by a light air, 
they went merrily down the harbour. 

" The spectacle that followed, is described as having been 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 5^17 

both beautiful and sublime. The entire bay was illuminated 
by the conflagration, the roar of cannon was constant, and 
Tripoli was in a clamour. The appearance of the ship was, 
in the highest degree, magnificent ; and to add to the effect, 
as her guns heated, they began to go off. Owing to the shift 
of wind, and the position into which she had tended, she, in 
some measure, returned the enemy's fire, as one of her broad- 
sides was discharged in the direction of the town, and the other 
towards Fort English. The most singular effect of this con- 
flagration, was on board the ship, for the flames having rurl 
up the rigging and masts, collected under the tops, and fell 
over, giving the whole the appearance of glowing column^ 
and fiery caps. Under ordinary circumstances, the situation 
of the ketch would still have been thought sufficiently peri- 
lous, but after the exploit they had just performed, her people, 
elated with success, regarded all that was now passing as a 
triumphant spectacle. The shot constantly cast the spray 
around them, or were whistling over their heads, but the only 
sensation they produced, was by calling attention to the bril- 
liant jets d'eau that they occasioned, as they bounded along 
the water. But one struck the Intrepid, although she was 
within half a mile of many of the heaviest guns for some time, 
and that passed through her top-gallant sail. 

" With sixteen sweeps and eighty men, elated with success, 
Mr. Decatur was enabled to drive the little Intrepid ahead, 
with a velocity that rendered towing useless. Near the har- 
bour's mouth, he met the Siren's boats, sent to cover his re- 
treat, but their services were scarcely necessary. As soon as 
the ketch was out of danger, he got into one, and pulled aboard 
the brig, to report to Lieutenant Com. Stewart, the result of 
his undertaking. The Siren had got into the offing some time 
after the Intrepid, agreeably to arrangement, and anchored 
about three miles from the rocks. Here she hoisted out the 
launch and a cutter, manned and armed them, and sent them 
in under Mr. Caldwell, her first lieutenant. Soon after, the 
19 



218 BIOGRAPHY OF 

brig weighed, and the wind having entirely failed outside, she 
swept into eight fathoms water, and anchored again, to cover 
the retreat, should the enemy attempt to board the Intrepid 
with his gun-boats. It will readily be supposed that it was 
an anxious moment, and as the moon rose, all eyes were on 
the frigate. After waiting in intense expectation, near an 
hour, a rocket went up from the Philadelphia. It was the 
signal of possession, and Mr. Stewart ran below to get another 
for the answer. He was gone only a moment, but when he 
returned, the fire was seen shining through the frigate's ports, 
and in a few more minutes, the flames were rushing up her 
rigging, as if a train had been touched. Then followed the 
cannonade, and the dashing of sweeps, with the approach of 
the ketch. Presently, a boat was seen coming alongside, and 
a man in a sailor's jacket, sprang over the gangway of the 
brig. It was Decatur, to announce his victory. 

*' The ketch and brig lay near-each other for about an hour, 
when a strong and favourable wind arose, and they made sail 
for Syracuse, which port they reached on the 19(.h. Here the 
party was received with salutes and congratulations, by the 
Sicilians, who were also at war with Tripoli, as well as by 
their own countrymen. 

"The success of this gallant exploit, laid the foundation of 
the name which Mr. Decatur subsequently acquired in the 
navy. The country applauded the feat generally ; and the 
commanding officer was raised from the station of a lieutenant 
to that of a captain. Most of the midshipmen engaged were 
also promoted. Lieutenant Com. Decatur also received a 
sword. 

" In whatever light we regard the exploit, it extorts our 
admiration and praise ; the boldness in the conception of the 
^nterprize, being even surpassed by the perfect manner in 
which all its parts were executed. Nothing appears to have 
been wanting in a military point of view; nothing was de- 
ranged ; nothing defeated. The hour was well chosen, and 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 219 

no doubt it was a chief reason, why the corsairs, gun-boats 
and batteries, were, in the first place, so slow in commencing 
their fire, and so uncertain in their aim, when they did open 
on the Americans. In appreciating the daring of the attempt, 
we have only to consider what might have been the conse- 
quences, had the assault on the frigate been repulsed. Di- 
rectly under her guns, with a harbour filled with light cruizers, 
gun-boats, and galleys, and surrounded by forts and batteries, 
the inevitable destruction of all in the Intrepid, must have fol- 
lowed. Those were dangers, that cool steadiness and entire 
self-possession, aided by perfect discipline, could alone avert. 
In the service, the enterprize has ever been regarded as one 
of its most brilliant achievements ; and to this day, it is deemed 
a high honour to have been one of the Intrepid's crew. The 
effect on the squadron then abroad, can scarcely be appre- 
ciated, as its seamen began to consider themselves invincible, 
if not invulnerable, and were ready for any service in which 
men could be employed." 

In the subsequent year, an attack upon Tripoli was planned, 
and the command of one of the assaulting divisions of the 
force, was given to Captain Decatur. On the 2d of August, 
the signal was given for the bombardment of the town and 
fort ; and Decatur, who was in the leading boat, within range 
of the batteries, received their heavy fire. He continued ad- 
vancing, until he came in contact with a vessel of the enemy, 
when, followed by the American portion of his crew, the Nea- 
politan sailors having remained behind, he boarded her in the 
most gallant style. The Turks were overcome with great 
slaughter, though the engagement lasted for ten minutes only. 

As our victor was proceeding with his prize, the boat which 
had been commanded by Lieutenant James Decatur came 
near, and informed him that an enemy's vessel had been cap- 
tured ; but that after her surrender, her commander had in 
cold treachery shot his brother, and was then making for the 



220 BIOGRAPHY OF 

harbour with the boat. The emotions of the gallant captain 
can be easily imagined. Without one thought as to the des- 
perate course which first suggested itself, he immediately pur- 
sued the Turkish assassin, and followed him in his single boat 
to the very line of the enemy's fleet. He succeeded in getting 
ulong-side of his foe, and springing on deck, with but twelve 
followers, fought his way to where the commander stood. 
The Turk was armed with an espotoon, and Decatur possessed 
only a cutlass. He rushed upon the object of his vengeance, 
however, and a fearful contest ensued. In a pass that he 
made, his sword striking the head of the weapon which his 
antagonist used, was broken near to the hilt, and at the same 
time he received a wound in the breast and right arm. De- 
catur now sprung upon him, and a fierce struggle followed. 
Both fell, but Decatur uppermost. At this critical juncture, 
the Turk succeeded in drawing a dagger from his belt, and 
was preparing to plunge it into the body of his enemy, when 
Decatur shot him with a pistol, which he had in his pocket. 
During this personal struggle between the commanders, their 
respective crews were engaged in a terrible conflict ; and when 
Decatur, after his victory, attempted to aid his brave sailors, 
still contending, it was with difficulty that he could move 
among the dead that strewed the deck. 

An instance of heroic courage occurred during this conflict, 
of which it would be unpardonable to omit the record. Dur- 
ing the early part of Decatur's struggle with the treacherous 
Turk, the former was attacked in the rear by one of the 
enemy. He had just aimed a blow with his sabre that would 
have been fatal, when a sailor who had been so badly 
wounded as to be without the use of his hands, seeing no 
other means of saving his commander, rushed between him 
and the falling weapon, and received the blow on his own 
head. His skull was fractured ; but the noble fellow recovered, 
and was generously rewarded by his country. 

The war of 1812, with Great Britain, supplied Decatur 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 221 

With another opportunity of adding to the measure of glory- 
already won. On October 25th, of the above year, having 
the command of the frigate United States, he fell in with his 
Britannic majesty's ship, Macedonian, mounting forty-nine 
guns, and commanded by Captain S. Garden, one of the ablest 
officers in the British navy. The contest was continued at a 
distance for some time, the enemy having the advantage by 
being to windward. After the frigates had come to close ac- 
tion, the battle was but of brief duration, and terminated in the 
surrender of the Macedonian. The entire period of the whole 
engagement was only of one hour and a half in duration. 
The enemy's ship lost her mizzenmast and other of her spars, 
and was much injured in her hull. The number of her killed 
was thirty-six, and of wounded sixty-eight. The damage 
sustained by the United States was inconsiderable, and in a 
few hours she was ready to resume her cruize, had not Com- 
modore Decatur considered it advisable to convoy his prize 
into port. The loss of the American frigate was only four 
killed and seven wounded. 

The next important action in which Decatur was engaged, 
was when in command of the frigate President. Having left 
New York on the 14th of January, 1815, the next morning, 
at five o'clock, he discovered a large sail, nearly ahead, and 
shortly after, three more were discovered in chase. At day- 
light, the nearest vessel, which was a razee, commenced firing, 
but without effect, and the President soon distanced her. The 
wind at this time grew light, and the other ships rapidly gained 
upon the Commodore, especially one, which was a heavy fri- 
gate. Every means was employed to avoid an engagement 
with such fearful odds ; but at three o'clock, the nearest ship 
had got within gun-shot, and commenced a sharp fire, which 
was returned by the President. Every prospect of escape, as 
the wind was to the advantage of the foe, had now disap- 
peared, and the gallant Commodore adopted the bold measure 
of boarding the enemy. 
19* 



22^ BIOGRAPHY OF 

" It was truly astonishing, (an eye-witness on board gives 
the account,) to see the cool, deliberate courage and cheerful- 
ness that prevailed among the officers and crew, in the face 
of an enemy four times their force. From this you may con- 
ceive what we would have done, had we any thing like an 
equal force to contend with. Every arrangement was now 
made to close with the leading ship, which had at this time 
ranged up nearly within pistol-shot ; our brave commander 
placing himself at tlie head of the boarders. At five P. M., 
we wore short round, with the intention of laying him on 
board ; but, as if he had anticipated our design, he immedi- 
ately wore, and hauled to the wind, fearing to close, although 
the whole squadron were coming up fast : he having the wind, 
it was impossible to close for boarding. We now opened our 
fire, and in fifteen minutes his sails were very much cut up. 
Both ships now falling off, continued engaging before the 
v/ind, for an hour and a half: in which time, his spars, sails, 
and rigging, were literally cut to pieces, and his firing nearly 
silenced, only giving single guns at long intervals. We now 
quit him, and in hauling up, had to expose ourselves to a 
raking fire, but he was so much cut up that he could not avail 
himself of the advantage, and only fired three or four shot. 
We then, astonishing to relate, went out of action with every 
sail set, and soon left our antagonist out of sight. We were 
now going otT, with our damage but trifling, sails all wet again, 
and began to flatter ourselves with the probability of escaping. 
But about two hours from the time we left the ship we had 
engaged, one of the enemy had approached within half gun- 
shot, and another, taking a raking position, we were assailed 
with so superior a force, and without any probability of 
escape, that our brave commander, with great reluctance, 
being influenced by motives of humanity, ordered a signal of 
surrender to be made : notwithstanding, however, they con- 
tinued to fire into us for fifteen minutes after. We were now 
taken possession of by the Pomone and Tenedos, of thirty- 



STEPHEN DECATUR. 223 

eight each, and Majestic, razee, of sixty-two guns, and found 
the ship we had engaged was the Endymion, mounting fifty- 
one guns. Our loss was very severe, as you may suppose, 
from the length of the action. Commodore Decatur received 
a severe contusion on the breast. The loss of the enemy was 
likewise very great." 

Our affairs with Algiers having assumed a hostile appear- 
ance. Commodore Decatur was dispatched, in the spring of 
the year 1815, with a squadron, to reduce that regency to 
submission. He hoisted his flag on the Guerriere, and oa 
his passage thither, fell in with the Algerine Admiral, Rais 
Himmida. Having no hopes of escape, the Turk resolved 
to defend his ship to the last, and exhibited a remarkable 
bravery. His ship of forty-six guns was surrendered, after 
an engagement of twenty-five minutes only, and immedi- 
ately after he had received his death. The number of pri- 
soners was four hundred and six, and upwards of thirty were 
killed. This action was fought on the 17th of June of the 
above year, and on the nineteenth of the same month, our 
gallant Commodore captured an Algerine brig of twenty-two 
guns, and one hundred and eighty men. 

Decatur arrived before Algiers on the 29th of June, and 
promptly opened a negotiation with the Dey ; dictating such 
terms as the insolent conduct of the regency had made it the 
duty and honour of our country to demand. Every means 
to evade a submission to them was attempted by the crafty 
enemy; but the firmness and decision of the Commodore 
were not to be overcome. His conditions were sternly ad- 
hered to, and his purpose to destroy the city, if they were 
not consented to without delay, was expressed with a demon- 
stration of carrying it into effect. They were at length 
accepted ; and the emphatic lesson then received by them, 
was never forgotten. 

Some time after his return to the United States, Commodore 



224 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Decatur, on the organization of that department, was ap- 
pointed one of the Naval Board, and continued in that station 
until his death. This occurred on March 22d, 1820, near 
Bladensburg, where he fell, mortally wounded, by Commo- 
dore Barron, in a duel. 



What is said about the ancestors of Commodore Decatur ? 

When was the latter born ? 

At what age did he enter the American navy ? 

Was his promotion rapid and merited ? 

Tell about the frigate Philadelphia, and the proceedings of Decatur in 
relation to her destruction. 

What took place the subsequent year ? 

Relate the affair of his taking a prize, and what afterwards occurred. 

What did the noble sailor do for his commander ? 

In the war of 1812, did Decatur distinguish himself, and how? 

What do you say about the United States and Macedonian ? 

What about the engagement between the President and a greatly supe- 
rior force of the enemy ? 

What was the conduct of Decatur in the contest with Algiers ? 

When and how did he die ? 



GENERAL JOHN CADWALLADER. 

Born MDCCXLII — Died MDCCLXXXVI. 

This distinguished officer was born in Philadelphia, and 
was remarkable for his zealous and inflexible adherence to 
the cause of America, and for his intrepidity as a soldier, in 
upholding that cause during the most discouraging periods of 
danger and misfortune. At the dawn of the revolution, he 
commanded a corps of volunteers, designated as " the silk 
stocMng company,^'' of which nearly all the members were 
appointed to commissions in the line of the army. He after- 
wards was appointed colonel of one of the city battalions; and, 
being thence promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, was 



JOHN CADWALLADER. 225 

intrusted with the command of the Pennsylvania troops, in 
the important operations of the winter campaign of 1776, and 
1777. He acted with his command, and as a volunteer, in 
the actions of Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, and 
Monmouth, and on other occasions ; and received the thanks of 
general Washington, whose confidence and regard he uni- 
formly enjoyed. 

When general Washington determined to attack the British 
and Hessian troops at Trenton, he assigned him the command 
of a division. In the evening of Christmas day, 1776, gene- 
ral Washington made arrangements to pass the river Dela- 
ware, in three divisions : one, consisting of 500 men, under 
general Cadwallader, from the vicinity of Bristol ; a second 
division, under the command of general Irvine, was to cross 
at Trenton ferry, and secure the bridge leading to the town. 
Generals Cadwallader and Irvine made every exertion to get 
over, but the quantity of ice was so great, that they could not 
effect their purpose. The third, and main body, which was 
commanded by general Washington, crossed at M'Konkey's 
ferry ; but the ice in the river retarded their passage so long, 
that it was three o'clock in the morning before the artillery 
could be got over. On their landing in Jersey, they were 
formed into two divisions, commanded by generals Sullivan 
and Greene, who had under their command brigadiers lord 
Sterling, Mercer, and St. Clair : one of these divisions was 
ordered to proceed on the lower, or river road, the other on 
the upper, or Pennington road. Colonel Stark, with some 
light troops, was also directed to advance near to the river, 
and to possess himself of that part of the town, which is be- 
yond the bridge. The divisions having nearly the same dis- 
tance to march, were ordered, immediately on forcing the out- 
guards, to push directly into Trenton, that they might charge 
the enemy before they had time to form. Though they marched 
by different roads, they arrived at the enemy's advanced post 
within three minutes of each other. The out-guards of the 



226 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Hessian troops at Trenton soon fell back, but kept up a con- 
stant retreating fire. Their main body being hard pressed 
by the Americans, who had already got possession of half 
their artillery, attempted to file off by a road leading towards 
Princeton, but were checked by a body of troops thrown in 
their way. Finding they were surrounded, they laid down 
their arms. The number which submitted was twenty-three 
officers, and eight hundred and eighty-six men. Between 
thirty and forty of the Hessians were killed and wounded. 
Colonel Rahl was among the former, and seven of his offi- 
cers among the latter. Captain Washington, of the Virginia 
troops, and five or six of the Americans, were wounded. Two 
were killed, and two or three were frozen to death. The 
detachment in Trenton, consisting of the regiments of Rahl, 
Losberg, and Kniphausen, amounted in the whole to about 
fifteen hundred men, and a troop of British light-horse. All 
these were killed or captured, except about six hundred, who 
escaped by the road leading to Bordentown. 

The British had a strong battalion of light infantry at 
PrincetorT, and a force yet remaining near the Delaware, su- 
perior to the American army. General Washington, there- 
fore, in the evening of the same day, thought it most prudent 
to recross into Pennsylvania, with his prisoners. 

The next day after Washington's return, supposing him 
still on the Jersey side, general Cadwalladercrossed with about 
fifteen hundred men, and pursued the panic-struck enemy to 
Burlington. 

The merits and services of general Cadwallader, induced 
the Congress, early in 1778, to compliment him by an unani- 
mous vote, with the appointment of general of cavalry ; which 
appointment he declined, under an impression that he could 
be more useful to his country in the sphere in which he had 
been acting. 

The victory at Trenton had a most happy effect, and gene- 
ral Washington, finding himself at the head of a force with 



JOHN CADWALLADER. 227 

which it was practicable to attempt something, resolved not 
to remain inactive. Inferior as he was to the enemy, he yet 
determined to employ the winter in endeavouring to recover 
the whole, or a great part, of Jersey. The enemy were now 
collected in force at Princeton, under lord Cornwallis, where 
some works were thrown up. Generals Mifflin and Cadwal- 
lader, who lay at Bordentown and Crosswick's, with three 
thousand six hundred militia, were ordered to march up in 
the night of the first of January, 1777, to join the commander- 
in-chief, whose whole force, with this addition, did not exceed 
five thousand men. He formed the bold and judicious design 
of abandoning the Delaware, and marching silently in the 
night by a circuitous route, along the left flank of the enemy, 
into their rear at Princeton, where he knew they could not be 
very strong. He reached Princeton early in the morning of 
the third, and would have completely surprised the British, 
had not a party, which was on their way to Trenton, descried 
his troops, when they were about two miles distant, and sent 
back couriers to alarm their fellow-soldiers in the rear. A 
sharp action ensued, which however was not of long duration. 
The -militia, of which the advanced party was principally 
composed, soon gave way. General Mercer was mortally 
wounded while exerting himself to rally his broken troops. 
The moment was critical. General Washington pushed for- 
ward, and placed himself between his own men and the 
British, with his horse's head fronting the latter. The Ame- 
ricans, encouraged by his example, made a stand, and re- 
turned the British fire. A party of the British fled into the 
college, and were attacked with field-pieces. After receiving 
a few discharges, they came out and surrendered themselves 
prisoners of war. In this action upwards of one hundred of 
the enemy were killed on the spot, and three hundred taken 
prisoners. The Americans lost only a few, but colonels Has- 
let and Potter, two brave and valuable oflicers, from Delaware 
and Pennsylvania, were among the slain. 

Rogers' Biog. Diet, 



S28 BIOGRAPHY OF 

After having continued in the army until the close of the 
war, General Cadwallader retired into private life, and resided 
on an estate in Shrewsbury, Kent county, Maryland, where 
he died on February 10th, 1780, honoured with the esteem 
of his fellow-citizens, and lamented by the country which he 
had so valiantly aided. 



Where was General Cadwallader born, and in what year ? 
What was the name of the corps he commanded on the breaking out 
of the revolution ? 
To what command was he afterwards promoted ? 
In what actions was he engaged, and how did he distinguish himself? 
How was his great gallantry proposed to be rewarded by Congress ? 
Describe his brave attack upon the enemy at Princeton. 
What was the loss of the enemy, — what that of the Americans ? 
When did he die ? 



MAJOR GENERAL JOHN GIBSON. 

Born MDCCXL — Died MDCCCXXII. 

" John Gibson was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on 
the 23d of May, 1740. He received a classical education, 
and was an excellent scholar at the age of eighteen, when he 
entered the service. He made his first campaign under 
General Forbes, in the expedition wljich resulted in the ac- 
quisition of Fort du Quesne, (Pittsburg,) from the French. 
At the peace of 1763, he settled at Fort Pitt, as a trader. 
Shortly after this, a war broke out again with the Indians, and 
he was taken prisoner at the mouth of Beaver creek, together 
with two men who were in his employment, while descending 
the Ohio in a canoe. One of the men was immediately 
burnt, and the other shared the same fate, as soon as the 
party reached the Kenhawa. General Gibson, however, was 
preserved by an aged squaw, and adopted by her in the place 



JOHN GIBSON. 229 

of her son, who had been killed in battle. He remained 
several years with the Indians, and became familiar with 
their language, habits, manners, customs, and traditions. It 
is to be regretted, that the low degree of estimation in which 
these objects were held, prevented him from giving his col- 
lections to the public, as in the present state of taste for Indian 
antiquities, they would have been valuable. No person, who 
had equal opportunities of acquiring information of this kind, 
was so well qualified to communicate it, except his late friend, 
the Rev. Mr. Heckwelder. At the termination of hostilities, 
he again settled at Fort Pitt. 

" In 1774, he acted a conspicuous part in the expedition 
against the Shawnee Towns, under lord Dunmore ; particu- 
larly in negotiating the peace which followed, and restored 
many prisoners to their friends, after a captivity of several 
years. On this occasion, the celebrated speech of Logan, 
the Mingo chief, was delivered ; the circumstances connected 
with which, have still sufficient interest to justify a relation 
of them here, as received from the lips of General Gibson, a 
short time before his death. When the troops had arrived at 
the principal town, and while dispositions were making pre- 
paratory to the attack, he was sent on with a flag, and au- 
thority to treat for peace. As he approached, he met with 
Logan, who was standing by the side of the path, and ac- 
costed him with, 'My friend Logan, how do you do? I am 
glad to see you.' To which, Logan, with a coldness of man- 
ner evidently intended to conceal feelings with which he was 
struggling, replied; ' I suppose you are;' and turned away. 
On opening the business to the chiefs (all but Logan) assem- 
bled in council, he found them sincerely desirous of peace. 
During the discussion of the terms, he felt himself plucked 
by the skirt of his cavote^ and turning, beheld Logan stand- 
ing at his back, witn his face convulsed with passion, and 
beckoning him to follow. This he hesitated to do ; but re- 
flecting that he was at least a match for his supposed antago- 
20 



230 BIOGRAPHY OF 

nist, being armed with dirk and side pistols, and in muscular 
vigour more than his equal, and considering, above all, that 
the slightest indication of fear might be prejudicial to the ne- 
gotiation, he followed in silence, while the latter with hurried 
steps, led the way to a copse of wood at some distance. Here 
they sat down, and Logan, having regained the power of 
utterance, after an abundance of tears, delivered the speech 
in question, desiring that it might be communicated to lord 
Dunmore, for the purpose of removing all suspicion of insin- 
cerity on the part of the Indians, in consequence of the re- 
fusal of a chief of such note to take part in the ratification of 
the treaty. It was accordingly translated, and delivered to 
lord Dunmore immediately afterwards. General Gibson 
would not positively assert, that the speech, as given by Mr. 
Jefferson, in the Notes on Virginia, is an exact copy of his 
translation, although particular expressions in it induced him 
to think that it is ; but he was altogether certain that it con- 
tained the substance. He was of opinion, however, that no 
translation could give an adequate idea of the original ; to 
which, the language of passion, uttered in tones of the deep- 
est feeling, and with gesture at once natural, graceful, and 
commanding, together with a consciousness on the part of 
the hearer, that the sentiments proceeded immediately from 
a desolate and broken heart, imparted a grandeur and force 
inconceivably great. In comparison with the speech as de- 
livered, he thought the translation tame and insipid. 

" On the breaking out of the revolutionary war, he was 
appointed to the command of one of the continental regi- 
ments, and served with the army at New York, and in the 
retreat through New Jersey : but for the rest of the war, was 
employed on the western frontier, for which, by long expe- 
rience in Indian warfare, he was peculiarly qualified. In 
1788, he was a member of the convention which formed the 
constitution of Pennsylvania, and subsequently a judge of the 
court of common pleas of Allegheny county, and also a ma- 



JOHN GIBSON. 23 

jor-general of militia. In 1800, he received from president 
Jefferson, the appointment of secretary of the territory of In- 
diana ; an office which he held till that territory became a 
state. At this time, finding that the infirmities of age were 
thickening on him, and labouring under an incurable cataract, 
he retired to Braddock's Field, the seat of his son-in-law, 
George Wallace, Esq., where he died on the 10th of April, 
1822 ; having borne through life the character of a brave 
soldier and an honest man." 



When and where was general Gibson born ? 

What was his education ? 

When did he make his first campaign, and under whom? 

In his second campaig">, what occurred to him — how was he saved, and 
how long did he live among the Indians ? 

Relate the events of 1774, and especially his interview with Logan the 
chief. 

In the revolutionary war, what command had he, and where engaged? 

What station did he hold on the adoption of the «tate constitution in 1788? 

With what appointment was he honoured by President Jefferson { 

When did he die, and where ? 

Recite Logan's speech. 



The following is the speech of Logan, alluded to in the 
foregoing sketch, and which the compiler conceives will be 
proper in this place : 

Speech of Logan, a Mingo Chief, to Lord Dunmore, Governor of Vir- 
ginia, 1774. 

" I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Lo- 
gan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; if ever he 
came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the 
course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle 
in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for 
the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and 
said, ' Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought 



232 BIOGRAPHY OF 

to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Co- 
lonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, 
murdered all the relatives of Logan, not even sparing my 
women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in 
the veins of any living creature. This called on me for re- 
venge. I have sought it ; I have killed many ; I have fully 
glutted my vengeance : for my country I rejoice at the beams 
of peace. But do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy 
of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel 
to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one." 
Rogers's Biograpliical Dictionary. 



MAJOR-GENERAL ANDREW PORTER. 

Born MDCCXLIII — Died MDCCCXIII. 

"Andrew Porter, colonel of the fourth, or Pennsylvania 
regiment of artillery, and subsequently brigadier and major- 
general of the second division, Pennsylvania militia, was born 
in what is now Worcester township, Montgomery county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 24th September, 1743. His life affords a 
striking and useful example of what native energy and genius 
may accomplish, unfostered and unaided, except by its own 
exertions. Without the influence of family and friends, with- 
out the common advantages of early education, he rose to 
rank and respectability, both in civil and military life, and 
held a distinguished station in the scientific world. Nature 
gifted him with a strong and vigorous intellect, and a clear 
discriminating mind ; and these faculties being applied, al- 
though comparatively at a late period in life, to scientific pur- 
suits, with untiring industry and perseverance, their possessor 
was rewarded with a success seldom attained by those who 
enter on a similar course, under more favourable auspices. 



ANDREW PORTER. 233 

" His father, Mr. Robert Porter, a native of Ireland, who 
emigrated to this country in early life, was a respectable far- 
mer, but in moderate circumstances, and having a large family 
of children, he was unable, had he been so disposed, to ex- 
pend much upon their education. Andrew, the subject of this 
notice, had shown an early taste for reading what few books 
he could procure ; and when at the age of eighteen or nine- 
teen, his father had determined on his learning the trade of a 
carpenter, with an elder brother, that brother, after a few 
months' trial, declared he must give him up ; that Andrew was 
too fond of books and figures, and too little disposed to work, 
ever to be useful to him as an apprentice. About this period 
of his life a circumstance occurred, laughable in itself, but 
which had a serious effect in giving a direction to his future 
pursuits. He had, from the first, discovered a taste for ma- 
thematics, and had read some few books in that branch of 
science, in which he was directed by an Irish gentleman, 
named Patrick Mennon, whom he occasionally met, and who 
taught a school some ten or fifteen miles from Mr. Porter's 
residence. Seeing in those books the draft of a sun-dial, and 
the principles upon which it was constructed, he conceived the 
idea of making one for himself He started off to a soap-stone 
quarry, on the banks of the river Schuylkill, near Spring 
Mill, and having selected a suitable stone, he carried it to his 
father's residence, a distance of eight or ten miles, where, his 
brothers being absent, he reduced it to a proper size and shape, 
by the use of their saws, planes, and chisels, but in his opera- 
tion completely spoiled the tools : the dial was finished ; but 
on the return of his brothers, he was banished from the car- 
penter's shop. His father then attempted to confine him to 
the business of farming: this too failed ; and believing that 
his aversion to labour, and his fondness for books, were so 
great, that he would never be successful as a farmer or me- 
chanic, he determined on fitting him, in some measure, for the 
humble occupation of a country schoolmaster. He was sent 
20* 



234 BIOGRAPHY OF 

for a short time to Mr. Mennon's school, during which he 
made rapid improvement, especially in the mathematics, and 
then opened a school himself, in the neighbourhood of his 
father's residence, pursuing his favourite study at every leisure 
moment. 

" Understanding that Dr. Rittenhouse was spending some 
time at his farm, in Norriton, young Mr. Porter paid him a 
visit, for the purpose of borrowing some work on fluxions, or 
conic sections. The doctor inquired whether he had ever 
had any mathematical instruction ; from whom, and for what 
period of time ; and finding that he had received but a few 
months' regular tuition, told him he thought he could not com- 
prehend the work which he wished to borrow. Our young 
mathematician, however, insisted that he was prepared to 
enter on the subject, and a conversation ensued, which so 
satisfied the doctor of the correctness of his knowledge, that 
he advised him not to bury himself in the country, but imme- 
diately to proceed to Philadelphia, and open a mathematical 
school there. 

" In the spring of the year 1767, he removed to Philadel- 
phia, and took charge of an English and Mathematical school, 
which he conducted with much reputation and celebrity, until 
the spring of the year 1776, when, at his country's call, he 
bade adieu to his peaceful avocations, to defend her cause. 
During his residence in Philadelphia, he was the associate of 
Doctors Rittenhouse, Ewing, Rush, and other distinguished 
scientific men, made great progress in his favourite studies, 
and became an accurate astronomer. 

*'0n the 19th of June, 1776, he was commissioned by 
congress, a captain of marines, and ordered on board the 
frigate Effingham. At this time his school contained about 
one hundred scholars, and enabled him to support, comforta- 
bly, a family of five children, who had recently lost their 
mother ; but all considerations of family or self, seemed to 
him to be lost in the cause of his country. Not finding in the 



ANDREW PORTER. 235 

marine service the opportunity of rendering his country the 
service he desired, he was shortly after transferred to the 
artillery, a corps, in which, from his previous studies, he was 
qualified to be eminently useful. He continued to serve as 
a captain of artillery, with great reputation for science and 
bravery, until the year 1782, when he was promoted to a 
majority, to rank as such from the 19th of April, 1781. He 
was subsequently promoted to the successive ranks of lieu- 
tenant colonel, lieutenant colonel commandant, and colonel 
of the fourth, or Pennsylvania regiment of artillery ; which 
latter station he held at the disbanding of the army. 

" While in the army, he was personally engaged in the 
cannonade at Trenton, and in the battles of Princeton, Bran- 
dywine, and Germantown. In the latter action, nearly all 
his company were killed or taken prisoners ; and in the first, 
he received on the field, in person, the commendation of 
General Washington, for his conduct in the action. In the 
month of April, 1779, he was detached with his company to 
join General James Clinton's brigade, in the operations under 
General Sullivan, against the Indians. He left the grand park 
of artillery at Pluckamin, on the 6th, and arrived at Albany 
on the 13th of May, where he joined General Clinton, with 
whom he proceeded to Canajoharie, on the Mohawk river. 
Hence the troops were marched to the head of the Otsego 
lake. Here it was that Captain Porter suggested to General 
Clinton the idea of damming the outlet of the lake, to collect 
a sufficiency of water for the conveyance of the troops, in 
boats, to Tioga point, where they were to meet General Sul- 
livan's army. The experiment was tried ; the water in the 
lake raised, by stopping the outlet, to the height of three feety 
and an artificial fresh created, which answered the proposed 
purpose, and the effect of which, on the river, was felt as low 
as Northumberland. The troops arrived safely at Tioga Point, 
joined General Sullivan, and having, by the battle of the 29th 
of August, and the subsequent destruction of the Indian towns, 



236 BIOGRAPHY OF 

cornfields, &c., accomplished the object of the expedition, the 
artillery rejoined the main army, and wintered at Morristown. 

" When the siege of Yorktown was determined on. Colonel 
Porter was ordered to proceed to Philadelphia, and superin- 
tend the laboratory, at which the various kinds of ammunition 
for that siege were prepared. He remonstrated against being 
thus removed from a station in which he might distinguish 
himself in the field, to the superintendence of what was gene- 
rally considered a mere chemical laboratory. His objections 
were silenced at once by this remark of the commander-in- 
chief: ' You say you are desirous of being placed in that 
situation in which you can render your country the most effi- 
cient services ; our success depends much on the manner m 
which our cartridges, bombs, and matches, are prepared. 
The eye of science is required to superintend their prepara- 
tion ; and if the information of General Knox, who knows you 
well and intimately, is to be depended on, there is no officer 
in the army better qualified than yourself, for the station I 
have assigned you.' 

" The grand object for which the Americans had taken up 
arms, having been accomplished by the peace of 1783, and 
the army being disbanded, Colonel Porter retired to private 
life. The trustees of the University of Pennsylvania tendered 
to him the Professorship of Mathematics in that institution, 
which he declined. He was subsequently appointed by the 
supreme executive council of the state, a commissioner for 
running, by astronomical observations, the lines between Penn- 
sylvania and Virginia ; Pennsylvania, and what is now Ohio ; 
and Pennsylvania and New York. In this business he was 
engaged during the years 1784, 5, 6, and 7, in company with 
Dr. Rittenhouse, Bishop Madison, Dr. Evving, General Clin- 
ton, and other gentlemen of science. He shortly after retired 
to his farm, in Norriton township, Montgomery county, within 
a few miles of the place of his nativity, on which he continued 
to reside until the spring of 1809. In the year 1800, he was 



ANDREW PORTER. 237 

appointed, in conjunction with Generals Irvine and Boude, to 
settle the controversies of the Pennsylvania claimants in the 
seventeen townships, in the county of Luzerne, but resigned 
the situation the next spring. In the same year, he was ap- 
pointed Brigadier General of the first brigade, second division 
of Pennsylvania militia ; and shortly after, on the removal of 
General Peter Muhlenberg to Philadelphia, he was made Major 
General of the division. 

"In the month of April, 1809, the late excellent and la- 
mented Governor Snyder selected him to fill the office of 
Surveyor General of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 
which situation he held until his decease, which took place on 
the 16th of November, 1813. The present lucid arrangement 
of that office was effected by him. He found it in much dis- 
order, remodelled it, and made order and harmony out of 
chaos and confusion. 

"During the years 1812 and 1813, he declined the situa- 
tions of brigadier-general in the army, and secretary of war, 
of the United States, both of which were offered to him by 
President Madison, believing that his advanced age would 
prevent the execution of the duties of either situation, with 
that efficiency which the public good and his own character 
required. 

" He died, universally lamented, at the advanced age of 
seventy years and upwards, and was buried at Harrisburg, 
with military honours, in the Presbyterian burial ground at 
that place, where a neat white marble monument designates 
the depository of his remains. 

" General Porter was twice married ; first in 1767, and 
secondly in 1777, his first wife having died in the year 1775. 
He left to survive him, his second wife, and ten children ; 
six sons and four daughters. In stature, he was rather above 
the middle size, athletic, and rather inclined to corpulency. 
His long service in the army, gave him a military air and 
dignity, which he carried with him throughout life. He was 



238 BIOGRAPHY OF 

gentlemanly and courteous in his intercourse with society ; 
but premeditated injury could rouse instantly all the appalling 
energy of his character. In his politics he was decidedly 
republican ; in his morals, pure ; and in his friendship, warm 
and sincere." 

Rogers' Biographical Dictionary. 



What were the titles of General Porter? 

When and where was he born ? 

What were the disadvantages of his early life ? 

Tell the anecdote of the sun-dial, and his connexion with Dr. Rittenhouse. 

When did he remove to Philadelphia, and in what business did he engage? 

What commission in the marines did he first hold, and what in the army ? 

In what engagements was he? and especially what was his advice about 
Tioga Lake ? 

What was the testimony of General Washington as to his great mathemati- 
cal science ? 

On the termination of the war, to what professorship was he appointed ? 

To what office did Governor Snyder appoint him ? 

What offices were tendered him, in the war of 1812 ? 

When did he die ? 



CAPTAIN NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 

Born MDCCL — Died MDCCLXXVIII. 

The ancestors of Captain Biddle were among the most 
respectable and influential of the colonists in America. They 
were the first settlers of the province of New Jersey, and 
held extensive tracts of land in that territory. His grand- 
father, William Biddle, Esq., was a gentleman of large for- 
tune ; which was inherited by his son, the parent of the sub- 
ject of our present memoir ; and who settled in Philadelphia, 
about the year 1740. A series of misfortunes materially 
lessened his great resources ; but without the most remote 
suspicion, that his established character for moral integrity 



NICHOLAS BIDDLE 239 

and elevated honour, had been injured by the failure of his 
extensive commercial transactions. 

His sixth son, Nicholas, was born on the 10th day of Sep- 
tember, 1750; and after having received the advantages of a 
complete English education, at the age of fourteen, he made 
a voyage to Quebec, which was the beginning of his maritime 
adventures. To navigation, his inclinations led him to devote 
himself, as his future profession ; and he prosecuted his pur- 
pose by making a number of trips, marked by the variety of 
fortune to which the life of a sailor has been at all times 
subject. 

In 1770, difficulties between England and Spain, in respect 
to the Falkland Islands, threatened a war; and our youthful 
hero proceeded to England, for the purpose of entering into 
the naval service of Britain. His honourable recommenda- 
tions of character and fitness, procured for him the warrant 
of a midshipman, and he was immediately appointed to a sta- 
tion in a vessel of war, commanded by Captain, afterwards 
Admiral Sterling. An adjustment of the matter by negotia- 
tion between the two governments, delayed the opportunity, 
so ardently desired by him; for displaying the intrepid courage 
which he possessed. 

In 1773, England projected an exploring expedition to the 
North Pole, with the view of discovering a passage to the Pa- 
cific. To be included among the hardy adventurers that com- 
posed the company in this important enterprize, young Biddle 
made every exertion ; but was unsuccessful in the object of 
his wishes. His unconquerable spirit and desire for active 
duty, however, induced him to offer himself as a common 
sailor, and, disguised as such, he was entered among the crew 
of the Carcase, commanded by the Honourable Captain Phipps. 
Having been recognized by one of the seamen, who had pre- 
viously known him as a midshipman, he explained to him his 
purpose, in assuming a character subordinate to that which 
belonged to him, and requested that the circumstance should 



240 BIOGRAPHY OF 

not be communicated. The faithful tar retained the secret in 
his breast, and our adventurer sailed with the expedition, 
without having been discovered. In the same ship was Ho- 
ratio Nelson, afterwards Lord Admiral, and the renowned 
hero of the Nile ; and both these young men were appointed 
coxswains, by the commander. The vessels engaged in this 
enterprize, proceeded within eleven hundred miles of the North 
Pole ; and their crews suffered very severely in the high lati- 
tude of the frozen region ; having, on one occasion, been sur- 
rounded with almost immoveable and mountainous islands of 
ice. 

On his return to England, the indications of a rupture be- 
tween the American colonies and the mother country were 
such, as to convince him that a war was inevitable. He did 
not hesitate for a moment, as to the course which the love of 
his native land prompted him to follow. Having resigned his 
warrant in the British navy, he immediately hastened to Ame- 
rica. On his arrival in Philadelphia, he solicited an appoint- 
ment in the infant navy of our country, and was gratified with 
the command of the Camden. This was a galley, built by the 
colony of Pennsylvania, for the defence of the Delaware, be- 
fore congress had provided any armed vessels. The situa- 
tion, however, not presenting an opportunity for signalizing 
himself, he applied to congress to be received into the regular 
marine, just then established ; and he was honoured with the 
command of the Andrew Doria, a brig of war, mounting four- 
teen guns, and with a crew of one hundred and thirty men. 
He was directed to join the expedition, commanded by Com- 
modore Hopkins, for the relief of the south, and where it was 
to act against the naval force under Lord Dun more, then 
ravaging the coast of Virginia, and the adjacent country. By 
some strange perversion of his orders, Hopkins, after having 
passed the scene of his operations, determined to make an 
attack upon New Providence, and accordingly directed his 
course to that point with the squadron under his command. 



NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 241 

For this unwarrantable and singular conduct, he was sus- 
pended by congress, on his return, and by a vote of that body, 
was finally dismissed from the service, on the 2d of January, 
1777. 

On his entrance into the American navy, Mr. Biddle was 
received with marked attention and honour, and soon won, by 
his gallant bearing, the warm regard of his brother officers. 
Among these, was Lieut. John Paul Jones, renowned for his 
daring courage, and the many intrepid actions which he per- 
formed during our revolutionary struggle. He was engaged 
in the same enterprize with Biddle ; and on the occasion of his 
taking the command of his vessel, then lying before Philadel- 
phia, had the honour of being the first that raised the flag of 
the stripes and stars. It, indeed, has been claimed for Jones, 
that he was the one who planned our national standard ; for 
previous to this circumstance, it is known that flags of various 
devices had been adopted by the respective colonies. 

With this famous hero, Biddle formed a close and enduring 
intimacy ; and the friendship which he always delighted to 
extend to him, was warm and sincere. He regarded him as 
a congenial spirit ; a hero, whose boldness of character he 
could duly appreciate ; for his own impulses were those of 
intrepid enterprise and courage. He delighted to extend to 
him every attention and respect ; and introduced him to the 
circle of society in which himself moved, as an officer of the 
greatest merit and promise. 

Captain Biddle, previously to leaving the Delaware, fur- 
nished a striking instance of undaunted bravery, which, in 
itself, would establish a character of the most determined 
courage. Two of his men had deserted from the vessel, 
which was then anchored near the Capes, and having been 
arrested, were imprisoned by the town authorities in the Lew- 
istown jail. An officer and a couple of the crew were ordered 
to bring them on board ; but they had barricaded the doors 
within, and threatened instant death upon any one who should 
21 



242 BIOGRAPHY OF 

attempt to remove them. It was known that the deserters 
were not only armed, but men of most desperate purpose. 
The officer who had been despatched, returned and reported 
the matter to his commander. Captain Biddle immediately- 
hastened on shore, and ordering the doors to be forced open, 
entered, with his pistol in his hand. Green, who was the 
more daring of the two, presented his weapon, and was pre- 
paring to fire as soon as the Captain appeared ; the latter 
called to him, that if he discharged his pistol and missed, that 
instant death would be his portion. The wretch was intimi- 
dated by the resolute and determined bearing of his com- 
mander, and along with his associate, at once surrendered ! 

If such an instance of intrepid bravery deserves to be 
recorded, it is with pleasure that mention is made of the hu- 
manity of our hero. On their passage to New Providence, 
the crews of the squadron were attacked with the small-pox ; 
and this loathsome disease made fatal ravages both among the 
officers and men. Captain Biddle had shipped his sailors at 
Philadelphia, and taken the precaution of receiving only such 
as had been inoculated, so far at least as it could be ascer- 
tained. When this pestilence first appeared, he requested that 
its suffering victims might be brought to the Andrew Doria, 
and mournful to say, his vessel was soon filled with patients. 
With his own hands, he administered the prescribed medi- 
cines, and with the greatest humanity endeavoured to alleviate 
their sufferings. Pie gave up his own cot to a midshipman, 
whom he attended with the greatest care, and which was 
never withdrawn until the object of his nursing attention ex- 
pired. Every privation was cheerfully borne by this noble 
soldier; and of every comfort was he deprived, except the 
blessed one of doing good to his fellow-creatures. Renowned, 
and justly so, is this great officer among his countrymen, for 
his gallantry and courage ; honoured is he in their hearts, for 
the services he so effectually rendered to his native land ; but 
his humanity on this occasion, must endear his memory, so 



NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 243 

long as this cardinal virtue of mortals can be appreciated by 
the afflicted sufferer on earth ! 

When the expedition appeared before New Providence, the 
town immediately surrendered, without even a faint show of 
resistance. The Andrew Doria was at this time so completely 
crowded with the sick, that had an engagement taken place, 
it would have been impracticable to work the vessel, both from 
this circumstance, and because the number of those who were 
in health, was not sufficient to attend to the poor sufferers, or 
even man the boats. Captain Biddle hastened for New Lon- 
don, with his floating hospital, and on his arrival, removed his 
patients on shore.- After refitting, he sailed on a cruize to the 
Banks of Newfoundland, to intercept some store-ships and 
transports belonging to the enemy ; and which were bound 
for Boston, then in a state of siege. In this object, he was 
eminently successful, and fulfilled the expectations of his coun- 
try by his gallantry. With but one hundred men, he captured 
two vessels from Scotland, having on board a large amount 
of stores, and four hundred troops^ chiefly Scotch highland- 
ers. The ofncers were placed on board of one of the prizes, 
and the command of it was given to Lieut. Josiah, with orders 
to proceed to the first port. The vessel, unfortunately, was 
recaptured by the British frigate Cerberus, to which Lieut. 
Josiah was removed, and not only ordered to do duty, but 
received most ungenerous and cruel treatment, from the pre- 
text that he was an Englishman. Conduct so greatly at vari- 
ance with prevailing usages among civilized nations, and so 
destitute of generosity, on the part of the victor, immediately 
warmed the indignation of Biddle, and he promptly wrote a 
letter to the British Admiral, at New York, informing him of 
the treatment which his lieutenant was receiving, and declar- 
ing, in the most emphatic terms, that a retaliatory course 
would be pursued, towards a son of Lord Cranstown, who 
was then liis prisoner, if the former should continue to be 
subject to such dishonourable proceedings. He also addressed 



244 BIOGRAPHY OF 

the Naval committee of Congress upon the subject ; and his 
communication having been laid before the House, resolutions 
were passed, proposing an exchange of Lieut. Josiah for an 
English officer of equal rank, and remonstrating to Lord 
Howe, against the cruel usage he had received. These pro- 
ceedings had their effect, and the Lieutenant, after ten months' 
captivity, was released. 

An idea of the extent of the depredations upon the enemy's 
commerce, and the number of vessels captured by Captain 
Biddle, may be formed, when the fact is stated, that on his 
return from this successful cruize, he had but five of the crew 
which he originally took with him at its commencement. So 
crowded was his own vessel with prisoners, that for days be- 
fore his return to Philadelphia, he never left the deck of his 
vessel, not even for repose, in order to guard against mutiny. 

About the latter end of the year 177G, a new frigate, called 
the Randolph, and built by Congress, was completed, and 
the command of her given to Captain Biddle, who had es- 
tablished, by his signal bravery, a high reputation in the ser- 
vice. The vessel was a beautiful one ; mounting thirty-two 
guns, and well fitted, in every respect, with the exception of 
her crew. To complete this, he was compelled to enlist a 
large number of British prisoners of war, who were desirous 
to enter under an officer of such acknowledged merit. Hav- 
ing completed his arrangements, he sailed from Philadelphia, 
in February, 1777. A few days after his departure, he 
discovered some defects in the spars of his vessel, but he 
proceeded on his voyage. A heavy gale ensued, which car- 
ried away all his masts; and he was obliged to bear away 
for Charleston, to repair the serious damage his ship had 
sustained. Previously to his reaching that port, however, a 
more threatening occurrence took place, which required an 
exhibition of the most fearless action and determined conduct 
on the part of our commander. This was the breaking 
out of a mutiny among the crew, many of whom, as before 



NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 245 

stated, were British prisoners, who had influenced others to 
join them in the desperate design of destroying the officers, 
and taking the ship. The first notice which Captain Biddle 
had of the conspiracy was the giving of three cheers by the 
mutineers, who had collected on the deck. In this fearful 
emergency, the bold determination of his character did not, 
for an instant desert him. Rushing among the rash malcon- 
tents, he cut down their ringleaders, and by his resolute 
valour, struck terror into the breasts of the others. They 
soon submitted, and order was again restored to his ship, 
which, but for his decisive conduct and daring boldness, 
would have been a scene of murderous violence and carnage. 

Having refitted in Charleston, he again set sail, and soon 
fell in with four vessels from Jamaica, bound to England. 
Among these was the True Briton, of twenty guns ; the gas- 
conading captain of which, had frequently expressed a desire 
to fall in with the Randolph. His wish, in this instance, 
was gratified, but instead of meeting his enemy, he made 
every disposition to sheer off. Finding his escape impossible, 
he hove to, and kept up a steady though distant fire upon 
the Randolph, which at length bore down upon him, and when 
preparing to pour in a broadside, the valorous commander 
of the Briton struck his fiag ! The other three vessels were 
easily captured, and our hero returned to Charleston, after 
only a week's absence, with these prizes. They were of 
great value ; and their appearance in the waters of the above 
city, was cheered with enthusiasm by the patriots of that 
high-minded community. 

Of the degree of this excitement, an instance was supplied 
in the subsequent proceedings, so honourable to South 
Carolina and Captain Biddle. A squadron was immediately 
fitted out by the state, and the command of it given to the 
commander of the Randolph. The vessels were immediately 
fitted for sea, and consisted of the ship General Moultrie, 
Captain Sullivan, of eighteen guns, brigs Fair American, 
21* 



246 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Captain Morgan, of fourteen ; Polly, Captain Anthony, of 
sixteen; and Notre Dame, Captain Hull, of sixteen guns. 
The orders given to Biddle were, to direct his attention to 
the marine force of the British, at that time blockading the 
port of Charleston, and annoying its valuable trade. Besides 
the usual equipment of sailors for liis respective vessels, our 
hero was supplied with a corps of fifty men, from the troops 
of Carolina, to act as marines on board of his frigate. 

After having experienced some difficulties in crossing the 
bar, the fleet put to sea, and steered an easterly course, in 
expectation of meeting the force already mentioned as com- 
mitting extensive depredations upon the commerce of the 
southern colonies. The next day our commander retook a 
ship belonging to one of the eastern states, and which had 
been dismasted. Having no cargo on board, the crew, some 
small stores, and guns, amounting to six, but of small calibre, 
were taken out, and the vessel was destroyed. It having 
been ascertained that the blockading squadron had left the 
coast. Captain Biddle directed his course to the West Indies ; 
and after having cruized for some days in the latitude of Bar- 
badoes, he succeeded in capturing an English schooner, 
bound from New York to Grenada. So fully deceived as to 
the character of the Randolph, was the Captain of the En- 
glish vessel, that he did not discover his error until afier his 
surrender. 

Prior to the eventful 7th of March, 1778, our gallant com- 
mander expected to be attacked by the enemy, then cruizing in 
the above waters ; and was on the alert against any surprise. 
He was aware of his being surrounded by a force superior to 
that of his squadron ; but this knowledge seemed to inspire 
him with additional desire for an engagement. It was stated 
by Captain Blake, who commanded the land-troops, acting 
as marines on board of the General Moultrie, and who was 
among the few survivors afler the dreadful explosion of the 
Randolph, that at dinner, a few days before the battle. Cap- 



NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 247 

tain Biddle remarked, " we have been cruizing here for some 
time, and have spoken a number of vessels who, no doubt, 
will give information of us ; and I should not be surprised, 
if my old ship should be out after us. As to any thing 
that carries her guns on one deck, I think myself a match 
for her." 

On the above day, about three o'clock, post meridian, a 
signal was made from the Randolph, that a sail was to wind- 
ward. On nearing before the wind, she appeared as a large 
sloop, with a square sail set ; although previously she had 
presented the appearance of a ship. About four, the squad- 
ron hauled upon a wind, in order to speak the Randolph. At 
seven, this vessel being then at windward, hove to ; and the 
General Moultrie, rather leeward, about one hundred and fifty 
yards astern, hove to likewise. The enemy's vessel, at eight 
o'clock, fired a gun ahead of the Moultrie, and hailed her. 
The reply was, the " Polly of New York." The former 
hauled her wind and spoke the Randolph. It was now for 
the first time discovered that the enemy's ship was a two- 
decker. Although the disparity of the two vessels was so 
striking, that desperation alone could have prompted an en- 
gagement, yet the intrepid bravery of Biddle would not allow 
him to avoid the conflict. After several questions and replies 
between the two ships, and as the enemy was getting on the 
weather-quarter of the American frigate, one of her officers, 
Lieutenant Barnes, announced her to be the Randolph. The 
American stripes were immediately hoisted, and a broadside 
poured into the British vessel. The action was now com- 
menced with terrific activity, and during its brief continuance, 
was marked by increasing violence. A short time after the 
engagement. Captain Biddle received a severe wound in the 
thigh ; and the greatest confusion prevailed through the Ran- 
dolph, from a report that he was killed. Directing himself 
to be raised, and exhibited to his brave fellows, he ordered a 
chair to be placed on the quarter-deck, and occupying it. 



248 BIOGRAPHY OF 

cheered on his crew, in a loud and distinct voice. As the 
enemy's stern cleared the Randolph, Captain SulUvan, of the 
General Moultrie, directed a broadside into him ; but the foe 
having rapidly shot ahead, brought her between the hostile 
ships and the above vessel, whose last broadside is supposed 
to have been received by the Randolph, from this circum- 
stance. 

In this tremendous conflict, the fire of Captain Biddle was 
so constant and rapid, that his vessel, during the whole period 
of the engagement, appeared as if entirely surrounded with a 
continual blaze. Her broadsides were three to one of those 
of the enemy, and were directed with the greatest skill and 
service. The action, which has no parallel in naval warfare, 
not only on account of the great disparity of force between the 
two belligerent vessels, but from the desperate courage dis- 
played by the Randolph, had now lasted twenty minutes. 
The bleeding commander was still seated in his chair, on the 
quarter-deck ; and although in the most excruciating torture, 
from the wound he had received, was encouraging his faithful 
crew to still further deeds of unexampled bravery. The sur- 
geon of the ship was in the act of examining the injury which 
his gallant superior had sustained, when an explosion of the 
magazine took place, and the awful contest closed with the 
destruction of the Randolph, and her magnanimous defenders ! 

It is not to be expected that even any rational conjecture 
can be formed, as to the immediate cause of this dreadful ca- 
tastrophe. Only four men, out of three hundred and fifteen, 
survived the appalling disaster; and who, after four days, 
were discovered clinging to a portion of the wreck, and pre- 
served, as if by Providence, amid the fearful dangers which 
had encompassed them, to relate the partial account of those 
circumstances that immediately preceded an event that de- 
prived his country of one of the most faithful and gallant heroes 
in her service. 

That the engagement was marked by peculiar circum- 



NICHOLAS BIDDLE. 249 

Stances, is evident from the fact, that when the explosion took 
place, the captain of the Fair American was so convinced of 
its being the enemy's vessel that had been destroyed, that he 
actually hailed her with his trumpet; believing that his in- 
trepid commodore was the victor. As he neared the ship, 
however, he was mournfully convinced of his error. He per- 
ceived that the enemy was very much injured in her spars, 
sails, and hull ; and that until the disaster, the Randolph had 
every advantage over the foe. That this was the case is ma- 
nifest; for the two-decker was entirely incapacitated from 
pursuing the American vessels, and they easily escaped, on 
account of her disabled condition. 

The vessel with which Captain Biddle had engaged, was the 
Yarmouth, of sixty-four guns, and commanded by Captain 
Vincent. It will be remembered that the Randolph had thiv' 
ty-tiDO guns only. So that the force of his Britannic majesty's 
ship, was as txco to one, or exactly double ! From a letter 
of Captain Vincent, dated March 17th, 1778, we learn that 
on the 7th of the same month, while cruising to the eastward 
of the island of Barbadoes, he made six sail, standing to the 
southwest. The Yarmouth bore down upon the chase, which 
was ascertained to be two ships, three brigs, and a schooner. 
About nine o'clock in the evening. Captain Vincent succeeded 
in ranging up on the weather-quarter of the largest and fore- 
most of the vessels ; the ship next in size being astern, and 
to the leeward. Having hoisted his own colours, the Yar- 
mouth ordered the ship near her to show her ensign, when 
the American flag was run up, and a broadside immediately 
poured into her from the stranger. The action now com- 
menced with tury between the vessels, and it was vigorously 
maintained for twenty minutes, when the American ship blew 
up ! So near, according to the account of the British com- 
mander, were the two belligerents, that fragments of the wreck 
struck the Yarmouth ; and among other things, an American 



250 BIOGRAPHY OF 

ensign, rolled up, was thrown upon her forecastle. The flag 
was not even singed nor soiled ! 

In the extended account of Captain Vincent, he states that 
the vessels in company with his enemy, now steered different 
courses, and that the Yarmouth attempted to give chase to 
two of them, but was obliged to abandon his purpose, because 
his sails had suffered so much in the action, that the vessels 
pursued soon run out of sight. The number killed, accord- 
ing to his own account, was five men, and the wounded 
amounted to twelve. On the fifth day after, when cruizing 
near the scene of the terrible contest, a piece of the wreck 
was discovered, with four men on it, making signals for re- 
lief. They were taken on board, and reported that they had 
belonged to the United States ship, Randolph, of thirty-two 
guns, Captain Biddle, the vessel that had blown up in action 
with the Englishman on the night of the seventh. The poor 
fellows had been upon the portion of the wreck ever since the 
fatal disaster, without any sustenance except a little rain- 
water. 

Such was the fate of the gallant Biddle ! It was one, 
which all who can admire, with the least sensibility, the in- 
trepid courage of the hero, must deplore and mourn over I In 
the hearts of his countrymen, his memory ought to be en- 
shrined ; for his name is a legacy of honour to a nation, in 
whose very infancy of establishment, he was an ornament 
and glory. In his noble spirit, there were mingled those vir- 
tues which exhibit our nature in its purest aspect ; and the 
humane principles of his heart were not less active than the 
impulses to deeds of bravery, which were ever struggling in 
his breast. Had he never before exhibited his intrepid 
courage, this final action would be sufficient to cover him 
with an ever-during renown. To increase the measure of it, 
his generous enemy has lent his testimony to the steadiness 
and spirit, with which he commenced the conflict against a 
force so vastly superior ; yet the disparity did not appal him, 



NICHOLAS BIDDLE, 251 

though a mad desperation, it can never be believed, urged 
him on to battle. This was not an ingredient in the character 
of Biddle : he was a hero, in the true and strict interpretation 
of the term. He was exceedingly brave, but he was not 
rash ,• he was intrepid, but not reckless. And with these 
standard qualities of the warrior, he went into the conflict, 
which, though in our view, it might not give one faint hope 
of victory, even should his other vessels behave as well as 
his own ; yet, surrounded as the whole affair is in mystery, 
is it not a legitimate inference, that he intended to close the 
battle in triumph, by boarding, and hand to hand, to struggle 
and conquer in the cause of his beloved country ! 



What is said about the ancestors of Captain Biddle? 

When was the latter born ? 

What pursuit did his inclinations lead him to adopt ? 

When did he enter the English navy, and which was his first expedition ? 

What great naval hero did he find in this expedition? 

Why did he leave the British service and return to his native land ? 

Which was his first vessel ? 

How was he received by his brother officers, and with whom in particular 
did he form a lasting friendship? 

What is said about the flag of the stars and stripes ? 

Relate the anecdote about the two deserters. 

Tell of his conduct in relation to the pestilence among the crew of the 
squadron. 

What was the affair on his cruize to Newfoundland ? 

Relate fully all the circumstances of his brave conduct when command' 
ing the Randolph — the mutiny of the crew — the conduct of the people of 
Charleston, — his affair with the Yarmouth, of 64 guns, &.c. &c. 



252 BIOGRAPHY OF 

MAJOR GENERAL JACOB BROWN. 

Born MDCCLXXVI — Died MDCCCXXVI. 

The annals of the American revolution present not a fairer 
nor more splendid page, than that which registers the full and 
generous aid that Pennsylvania rendered in the mighty strug- 
gle. The important services which she freely gave, at the 
very onset of the conflict, were bestowed, not from an imme- 
diate interest, but from a love of freedom, — the spirit of which 
was incorporated in her charter, — as well as from those con- 
siderations which had their controlling influence in a noble 
sympathy. Responding to the primary action of Virginia, 
in resisting usurped power, she made common cause with her, 
and the colonies that afterwards revolted ; although no op- 
pressive measures had been directed against herself. By the 
provisions of the royal grant of Charles II., made to William 
Penn, she was, in a great measure, exempted from those as- 
saults upon her dignity and privileges, to which the other 
provinces were subject. Yet she magnanimously came forth, 
and gave her treasures and her hardy sons, to war in de- 
fence of those principles, to which the world has since done 
homaare, and the hearts of men now treasure in their holiest 
sanctuaries. 

In the war of 1812, waged against the same empire, Penn- 
sylvania was again in the van-guard of those, who went forth 
to battle for their country. Her immense resources were 
freely and even lavishly employed in the cause in which the 
United States were then engaged ; and her population sup- 
plied a large portion of the troops that rallied under the ban- 
ner of an insulted nation. No questions as to the expediency 
of the war, or the manner in which it was directed, and 
much less, any demonstration of resistance to the measures 



JACOB BROWN. 258 

of the general government, caused her to hesitate as to the 
course which patriotism required. All that could be bestowed, 
— and it was much, very much, — was brought and laid upon 
the country's altar. It was an oblation which she gave ; and 
it was gathered in gladness, and teeming plenty, as a free-will 
offering, in a cause from which she could not be a recreant. 
Her great and important services are a matter of historical 
record ; and they should be regarded by her children as 
among the many evidences which prove the patriotism and 
virtue of their great commonwealth. 

In this war, a native of Pennsylvania bore a distinguished 
and honourable part. Major General Brown, a prominent 
leader in what has, with propriety, been termed the second 
contest for independence, was born in Bucks county, and was 
descended from ancestors who accompanied William Penn to 
America. They were attached to the Society of Friends, 
and trained their offspring in the principles of their religious 
faith. The present subject of these memoirs, received a good 
English education ; on completing which, he took charge of a 
school in his neighbourhood. Having qualified himself for 
land surveying, he adopted it as a profession, and succeeded 
in realizing a respectable income. At the age of twenty- 
three, he emigrated to the state of New York, and became 
extensively engaged in land speculations. At what time he 
relinquished his connexion with the communion in which he 
was reared, does not appear, but, at the breaking out of the 
war, we find him holding the commission of a brigadier in 
the militia of the State of New York. He had previously 
held subordinate stations, and acquitted himself with much 
credit ; sufficient to give an earnest of full capacity for more 
active service. 

At the commencement of hostilities, the command of the 
frontier of the state of New York, was held by General 
Brown. It embraced the entire line, from Oswego to St. 
Regis, and of more than three hundred miles in extent, in- 



254 BIOGRAPHY OF 

eluding tlie important point at Sackett's Harbour. The moot 
skilful arrangements were made by him, in defence of his 
command, and, on many occasions, he exhibited consummate 
prudence and firmness, in the transportation of troops, &c., 
before the face of the enemy. In this campaign, the famous 
action at Ogdensburgh was fought, in which eight hundred 
British regulars were beaten by an American force of four 
hundred men, hastily collected together, and wanting the ne- 
cessary discipline. 

In 1813, on the opening of the campaign, he again took 
the field, and was appointed to the more immediate defence 
of Sackett's Harbour. On repairing to his command, he found 
the works in a most neglected condition, and but four hun- 
dred raw recruits. With the promptness that always distin- 
guished him, he made the necessary dispositions for protection, 
and succeeded in gathering a few hundred volunteers. In this 
laborious duty, he was materially aided by Colonel Bockus, 
of the United States' army ; an accomplished and brave sol- 
dier. The violent assault made by a large force from the 
enemy, was met by General Brown, at the head of his raw 
troops, with determined bravery ; and after a struggle, which 
was most severe, he succeeded in compelling him to retire 
with immense loss. 

The reputation of General Brown, as a brave and good 
officer, was now so well established, that he was appointed 
a brigadier in the army of the United States. The first duty, 
after this flattering testimonial from his country, was to trans- 
port the army, under Wilkinson, down the St. Lawrence, in 
the expedition against Montreal. Although the design failed 
in its object, yet the service in which he was the more imme- 
diately engaged, was successfijlly executed. 

The enemy having gained possession of Fort Niagara, 
General Brown was directed to lead an expedition for its re- 
covery. He promptly responded to his orders, and such was 
his celerity of movement, that he arrived at Buffalo before it 



JACOB BROWN. 255 

v;as well known that he had left Sackett's Harbour. Ad^ 
vancing, with the same rapidity, into the enemy's country, he 
reduced Fort Erie, by a bold and vigorous assault. 

He next moved towards the enemy, who lay entrenched in 
his works at Chippewa. The following is a correct account 
of the succeeding operations, 

"On the morning of the 4th of July, General Scott, with 
his brigade, and a corps of artillery, advanced. After some 
skirmishing with the enemy, he selected a judicious position 
for the night ; his right resting on the river, and a ravine in 
front ; at eleven at night, General Brown joined him with the 
reserve, under General Ripley, and a corps of artillery, under 
Major Hindman — a field and battering train were also brought 
up; General Porter arrived in the morning, with a part of the 
New York and Pennsylvania volunteers, and some of the 
warriors of the Six Nations. 

*' Early in the morning of the 5th, the enemy attacked the 
pickets; by noon, he showed himself on the loft of the army, 
and attacked one of the pickets, as it was returning to camp. 

" At four o'clock in the afternoon. General Porter advanced 
with the volunteers and Indians, in order to induce the enemy 
to come forth. General Porter's command met the light par- 
ties of the enemy in the woods. The enemy was driven, and 
Porter pursued until near Chippewa, where he met their whole 
column, in order of battle. The heavy firing induced a belief 
that the entire force of the enemy was in motion, and prepared 
for action. General Scott was ordered to advance with his 
brigade, and Towson's artillery. The General advanced in 
the most prompt officer-like manner, and, in a few minutes, 
was in close action with a superior force of the enemy. By 
this time, General Porter's command had given way, and fled 
in disorder, notwithstanding the great exertions of the General 
to rally them. This retreat left the left flank of General 
Scott's brigade greatly exposed. Captain Harris was directed, 



25G BIOGRAPHY OF 

with his dragoons, to stop the fugitives, behind the ravine, 
fronting the American camp. General Ripley, with the twenty- 
first regiment, which formed part of the reserve, passed to the 
left of the camp, under cover of the wood, to relieve General 
Scott, by falling on the enemy's right flank, but, before the 
twenty-first could come into its position, the line commanded 
by General Scott closed with the enemy. Major Jessup, 
commanding the left flank battalion, finding himself pressed 
in front and flank, and his men falling fast around him, or- 
dered his battalion to ' support arms, and advance /' the order 
was promptly obeyed, amidst the most deadly and destructive 
fire. Having gained a better position, he poured on the ene- 
my a fire so galling, as caused him to retire. The enemy's 
entire line now fell back, arid continued to retreat, until at the 
sloping ground desending towards Chippewa, when they broke, 
and fled to their works. 

" General Brown, finding the pursuit of the troops 
checked by the batteries of the enemy, ordered up his ord- 
nance, in order to force the place, by a direct attack, but was 
induced, by the report of Major Wood, and Captain Austin, 
who reconnoitred the enemy's works, the lateness of the 
hour, and the advice of his officers, to order the forces to 
retire to camp. The American troops, on no occasion, be- 
haved with more gallantry than on the present. The British 
regulars suffered defeat from a number of men, principally 
volunteers and militia, inferior to the vanquished enemy, in 
every thing but courage; and the gallant Brown, a woods- 
man, ' a soldier of yesterday,' put at defiance the military 
tactics of the experienced Major General Riall. 

"On the twenty-fifth of July, General Brown's army was 
encamped above Chippewa, near the battle ground of the 5th. 
The brigade under General Scott, moved past Chippewa, 
and halted at Bridgewater, in view of Niagara Falls. At 
half-past four o'clock, P. M., the battle was commenced by 
the enemy. The enemy, being numerically superior to the 



JACOB BROWN. 257 

Americans, he was able to extend his Jine so as to attempt 
to flank. In ord^r to counteract the apparent view of Gene- 
ral Riall, he was fought in detachments — he was charged 
in column. The ground was obstinately contested until 
nine o'clock in the evening, when General Brown decided 
to storm a battery, which the enemy had on a commanding 
eminence. Colonel Miller commanded on this enterprise, 
which was so resolutely entered on, that the enemy, unable 
to withstand the charge, retired to the bottom of the hill, and 
abandoned his cannon. The enemy now gave way, and 
was pursued some distance. The American army then be- 
took itself to the securing of prisoners, and bringing off the 
wounded. 

" While the army was thus employed. General Drummond 
arrived with a reinforcement to the enemy, when he, unex- 
pectedly to the Americans, renewed the battle, with a view 
to recover his cannon. The army, having quickly formed, 
resisted the attack with courage ; and, after a close engage- 
ment, the enemy was repulsed, as he was in two other 
similar attempts. The American army having effected the 
removal of nearly all the wounded, retired from the ground a 
little before midnight, and returned to camp. 

" On the morning after the battle, the Americans, under 
Generals Ripley and Porter, reconnoitred the enemy, who 
did not show any disposition to renew the contest, and then 
burned the enemy's barracks, and a bridge at Chippewa, 
after which, they returned to Fort Erie. 

" The enemy was believed to have lost between twelve 
and thirteen hundred men, including Major General Riall, 
who was wounded, and, with eighteen other officers and one 
hundred and fifty non-commissioned officers and privates, 
taken prisoners. The Americans lost — killed, one hundred 
and seventy -one; wounded, five hundred and seventy-two; 
missing, one hundred and seventeen — total, eight hundred 
and sixty. 
22* 



258 BIOGRAPHY OF 

" The British force engaged, amounted, by their own con- 
fession, to four thousand live hundred men, mostly, or 
wholly regulars, beside a host of Indians ; the American 
force did not exceed two thousand eight liundred men, con- 
sisting, in a great proportion, of the militia of Pennsylvania 
and New York. 

" General Brown received two wounds, but continued to 
command until the action ended." 

Having recovered from his wounds, in the course of a few 
weeks. General Brown was again in the field, and strenu- 
ously engaged in making arrangements for the defence of the 
posts within the line of his command. His chief attention 
was directed to Fort Erie, and in a short time his admirable 
arrangements were completed. On the 16th day of Septem- 
ber, he made a bold sortie upon the enemy, under the com- 
mand of General Drummond, and drove him from the bat- 
teries, which he had raised to command the fort. The loss of 
the British, in this splendid affair, was more than eight hun- 
dred men ; all his cannon spiked, and the entire demolition 
of his works. General Drummond hastily retreated, and fell 
back on Fort George, leaving the American force in security 
and repose. 

The Peace of Ghent, in a few months after, terminated 
the war; in the last battles of which, General Brown per- 
formed a conspicuous part. He was continued in the service 
on the reduction of the army, and in his rank, as the merited 
reward of his great services. He died in the year 1826, 
having won for himself, a large share of glory, and national 
gratitude. 

When was General Brown born ? and in what part of Pennsylvania ? 
Of what religious persuasion were his parents? 
What was his first profession ? 

When did he make his residence in the state of New York ? 
Give an account of the several battles in which General Brown distin- 
guished himself. 
When did he die ? 



PENNSYLVANIA BIOGRAPHY. 
PART III. 

GOVERNORS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

SINCE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION IN 1790 ; 
AND WHO ARE NOW DECEASED. 



THOMAS MIFFLIN. 

Elevation to office A. D. 1790 — Expiration of Constitutional terra A. D. 
1799.— Tenure 9 years. 

His Excellency, Thomas Mifflin, as has been seen in the 
admirable article from the pen of the late W. Rawle, Esq., 
and which commences the second part of these memoirs, had 
the honour of being the first Governor that occupied the chair 
of state in Pennsylvania. To this elevated station he arrived, 
not only through the important and many services which he 
had rendered during the whole of our revolutionary struggle, 
but also on account of the great statesman-like talents which 
were deservedly awarded him. The judgment of his capacity, 
in this respect, was not erroneous ; and in the cabinet, as in 
the field, he acquitted himself with full honour and accepta- 
bleness to his admiring and patriotic countrymen. 



Who was the first Governor, after the adoption of the Constitution of 1790? 

How long did he occupy the chair of the executive? 

What is said about his capacity for this station ? 

In what part of this book is there a full account given of Mifflin ? 

(259) 



260 BIOGRAPHY OF 



THOMAS M'KEAN. 

Elevation to office A. D, 1799 — Expiration of Constitutional term A. D, 
1808.— Tenure 9 years. 

The second in the order of time, of the Governors of Penn- 
sylvania, was the illustrious subject of this memoir. The 
patriotic and efficient labours which for a long period he had 
rendered to his injured and oppressed country, were directed 
by a capacity and energy, that were hardly exceeded by any 
of the great statesmen of the eventful season of the revolu- 
tionary contest. With intellectual powers of the highest grade, 
his moral attributes were such as eminently fitted him for the 
trying times in which he lived. His unyielding integrity and 
stern honesty, — his unflinching courage and immovable ad- 
herence to principles, essentially connected, in his view, with 
the public weal, and the sacred cause of human freedom, were 
sterling virtues in the gloomy days of a tremendous struggle. 
And faithfully, and in all their force and mighty strength, 
were they exhibited by one, whose name should never perish 
in a land which he greatly benefited by the purest patriotism, 
and honoured by his great learning and the splendid powers 
of a noble mind. 

If Thomas M'Kean had done no more than to affix his sig- 
nature to the great instrument of American freedom, he had 
well secured for himself an imperishable glory! Yet this act 
of moral and subUme courage, was one only in the series of 
noble deeds. Early identifying himself with the destiny of 
his native land, it would seem that he lived but for her honour 
and prosperity ; struggling with the bravest in the war-strife, 
or counselling with patriotic statesmen in the hall of liberty. 
Wherever and whenever his country called, there and at the 
time was he in obedience to her summons ; and the aid he 
brought, and the influence he lent to the national cause, were 



THOMAS M'KEAN. 261 

invaluable and effective. He had made an holy offering of 
himself and all that was his, before the altar of that country; 
and hand in hand, and heart with heart, he went forth among 
the patriarchs of freedom; — the venerable sires, who would 
live only whilst the spirit of freedom abode in their homes, or 
the voice of the oppressor should no more reach their shores ! 

Thomas M'Kean was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 19th day of March, 1734. At a proper age he 
was placed under the tuition of the Rev. Dr. Allison, one of 
the most successful teachers of that day. Having completed 
his academical course, he entered himself, a student in law 
with David Finney, of New Castle, Delaware ; and after his 
admission to the bar, rapidly acquired a large share of profes- 
sional practice. Extending his attention to the courts of Phi- 
ladelphia, his reputation deservedly increased : and in 1762 
he was elected as a delegate to the assembly of New Castle 
county. For eleven consecutive years he was honoured with 
this station ; and even after his removal to Philadelphia he 
was elected for six years more. 

The acts of the British parliament in relation to stamp du- 
ties, occasioned the assembling of a Congress, selected by the 
respective colonial assemblies ; and to this body Mr. M'Kean 
was appointed. In their deliberations he exhibited an active 
interest, and was placed on the most important committees. 
With regard to all the public events, which subsequently oc- 
curred, his decisions in favour of the colonies were promptly 
made, and eloquently enforced. On the declaration of inde- 
pendence, he associated himself with the members of a pa- 
triotic legion raised in Philadelphia. He was elected their 
colonel, and marched at the head of them to join General 
Washington, with whom he and his brave band continued, 
until a flying-camp of 10,000 men was raised. 

It is proper here to remark that, Mr. M'Kean was returned 
to the revolutionary Congress invariably by the two states of 
Delaware and Pennsylvania, — that he was the only member 



262 BIOGRAPHY OF 

from the day of its opening, in 1774, to that of the signing of 
the preUminaries of peace, in 1783 ! Another statement is 
called for, to wit, that whilst he was the Chief Justice of 
Pennsylvania, he was also president of Congress, in 1781. 

In the above exalted judicial station, he continued for twenty- 
two years, until he was elected governor of the commonwealth, 
in 1799. His administration is admitted to have been marked 
with gi-eat ability, and benefit to the state. Whilst in the 
tenure of the office, parties were unfortunately, and too fiercely 
struggling for the ascendency ; and the more vivid recollec- 
tions of the violence which the political belligerents exhibited, 
it is to be hoped, have long been buried. 

In this unhappy contest. Governor M'Kean manifested the 
firmness of his character. He was willing that his measures 
should be judged by their results : and to posterity he was 
prepared to leave the verdict as to his integrity of purpose. 
Let posterity at least reverence the memory of a sterling pa- 
triot, — let especially the scholar do homage to his great talents, 
— and let the jurist speak with pride of him whose ermine 
was never sullied, and who was an ornament in the temple of 
justice ! 

This excellent father of the republic died on the 24th of 
June, 1817, in Philadelphia. 



When was Thomas M'Kean born, and in what part of Pennsylvania ? 

What profession did he study, and under whom ? 

What do you say about his election to the assembly of Delaware, and for 
how many years ? 

What part did he take in the revolution ? 

Was he in the continental congress — an officer of that body — did he sign 
the Declaration of Independence ? 

Did he hold any military station ? 

What judicial station in Pennsylvania, and for how long? 

When was he elected governor, and how long was he in the chair? 

When did ho die ? 



SIMON SNYDER. 263 



SIMON SNYDER. " 

Elevation to office A. D. 1808 — Expiration of Constitutional term A. D. 
1817.— Tenure 9 years. 

Simon Snyder was born at Lancaster, in the state of 
Pennsylvania, in November, 1759. His father was a re» 
spectable mechanic, who had emigrated to Pennsylvania, from 
Germany, about the year 1740. The maiden name of his 
mother was Knippenberg. She was born near Oppenheim, 
in Germany. In April, 1774, his father, Anthony Snyder, 
died at Lancaster. In 1776, Simon Snyder left Lancaster, 
and went and resided at Yorktown, Pa. There he remained 
more than eight years. In that place he learned the tanning 
and currying business. As a proof of early integrity, it may 
be mentioned that he served an apprenticeship of four years, 
without being bound by any indenture or written contract. 
At York, he learned at night school, kept by John Jones — a 
worthy member of the Society of Friends — reading, writing, 
and arithmetic, and made some progress in the mathematics. 
Often at the midnight hour, after a hard day's work, Simon 
Snyder was found engaged in the pursuit of knowledge ; and 
his Sundays were almost constantly devoted to its acquire- 
ment. 

In July, 1784, he removed to the county of Northumber- 
land, to that portion of it which is now a part of Union 
county. There he became a storekeeper, and the owner of a 
mill. lie soon became very useful, and much respected as a 
scrivener. He was in all situations, and at all times the friend 
of the poor and the distressed ; modest and unassuming; yet 
was his sound judgment, impartiality, and love of justice, so 
well known, and duly appreciated, that he was elected imani- 
moudij by the freeholders of a large district of country, a 



264 BIOGRAPHY OF 

justice of the peace. In this office he continued to officiate 
for twelve years, under two commissions. The first was 
granted under the constitution of 1776, and the last was under 
the constitution of 1790. So universally were his decisions 
respected, that there never was an appeal from any judgment of 
his to the court of common pleas, and but one writ of certio- 
rari was served on him during all that time. Though the 
inhabitants consisted of that description of persons who are 
the settlers of all new countries, amongst whom quarrels and 
disputes are very frequent, yet so great was his personal in- 
fluence, and so strenuous his effi:)rts to reconcile the contending 
parties, that he generally prevailed : indeed, so efficient was 
his influence, that of the many actions brought before him for 
assaults and batteries, during the whole period of twelve years, 
he made return to the court of quarter sessions of but two re- 
cognizances. These are evidences of an extraordinary degree 
and extent of public confidence in the disposition, judgment, 
and general good principles and character of Mr. Snyder, 
a confidence which his whole life proved to have been well 
deserved. 

In 1789, he was elected a member of the convention, which 
formed the late constitution of the state. Mr. Snyder had 
heretofore taken but little part in the political contests of the 
day, yet his principles seem to have been well understood ; and 
his votes in the convention prove him to have been, then, as he 
continued through life, the steady supporter of those invalua- 
tle principles, which were best calculated to maintain the 
rights and promote the happiness of the people of this free 
country. 

In 1797, he was elected a member of the legislature. He 
was never considered a speaker of much impression, nor did 
he ever speak at great length, yet what he did say was list- 
ened to with marked attention, and always carried weight, 
because he never spoke but when he felt assured that it was 
his duty, to speak, and that he had something in the way of 



SIMON SNYDER. 265 

fact or information to communicate, which should influence 
the minds of his fellow-members. As a committee man, his 
services were much sought and much valued. In 1802, he 
was chosen Speaker of the House of Representatives. As a 
Speaker, Mr. Snyder presided with dignity, with a full know- 
ledge of his duties, and a most accurate recollection and prompt 
application of the rules of the house. The writer is of opinion 
that no decision of Speaker Snyder's was ever reversed by 
the house. It is certain that the amendments, which were 
frequently of moment, suggested by him as speaker, even 
when the bill was in its last stage, were almost always adopt- 
ed, with a unanimity which marked the high respect enter- 
tained by the house for his judgment. 

With him originated in our legislature a proposition to en- 
graft the arbitration principle on our judicial system, as well as 
many other wholesome provisions for the adjustment of con- 
troversies brought before justices of the peace. He continued, 
after repeated unanimous elections, to preside in the speaker's 
chair to the session 1804-5, inclusive. During that session, 
he was taken up as a candidate for the office of Governor, 
and ran in opposition to the then Governor, Thomas M''Kean. 
The question of calling a convention to amend the State Con- 
stitution, was so intimately interwoven with the question of 
who should be Governor, that the contest was conducted rather 
in reference to the question of the convention, than upon the 
principles or popularity of the candidates. Governor M'Kcan 
was re-elected by a majority of 5000. In 1806, Mr. Snyder 
was again elected to the House of Representatives, and again 
chosen Speaker, and was re-elected to both stations in 1807. 
fn 1808, he was taken up as a candidate for Governor, and 
after an arduous contest, was elected by a majority of 28,000. 
In 1811, he was re-elected, and also in 1814. His conduct 
]n the war of 1812, was patriotic and worthy of a Governor 
of Pennsylvania. 
23 



26G BIOGRAPHY OF 

In the session of 1813-14, a very large majority of both 
Houses of -the General Assembly, passed the bill which was 
called the bill to charter Forty Banks. The candidate for 
Governor was at that time nominated by the members of the 
Legislature. Having assembled in caucus for that purpose, 
it was remarked, after the meeting had been organized, that 
the bill to charter the forty banks was then before the Go- 
vernor, and that it would be prudent to adjourn the caucus, 
without making any nomination of a candidate for Governor, 
until it was ascertained whether he would or would not ap- 
prove of the bill. Within three days. Governor Snyder re- 
turned the bill, with his objections, and it did not pass that 
session. The independence of Governor Snyder was the 
theme of almost universal praise, and he was that year re- 
elected by nearly 30,000 majority. Having served the con- 
stitutional period of nine years, he retired to his former place 
of residence, Selin's Grove, where, at the general election, 
he was elected and forthwith entered upon the discharge 
of his duties as a guardian of the poor of the township. At 
the next general election, Mr. Snyder was elected a Senator 
of the state of Pennsylvania, and served one session. He died 
in the spring of 1820, honoured, respected, and beloved. He 
was in truth an honest and an upright man. Peace to his 
ashes ! 

Alderman Binns. 



When and where was Simon Snyder born ? 

What were his difficulties in acquiring an education ? and how did he over- 
come them ? 

To what trade did he apprentice himself? 

When he removed to Northumberland county, what were his pursuits? 

Mention the different offices and stations with which he was honoured ? 

When was he first elected Governor of the State ? and how long did ho 
hold the station? 

What important measures did he propose and establish ? 

What was his conduct during the war of 1812? 

When did he die ? 



JOSEPH HIESTER. 267 



JOSEPH HIESTER. 

Elevation to office, A. D. 1820.— Retirement from office, A. D. 1823. 
Tenure 3 years. 

Joseph FIiester, late ex-governor of Pennsylvania, was 
born in Bern Township, Berks county, on the 18th of Novem- 
ber, 1752. He was the son of John Hiester, a farmer, who 
emigrated from Germany to this country, about the year 1734. 
The motives that induced him to take this step, as he often 
stated to his son Joseph, were the state of vassalage existing 
at that time in his native country, which exacted from the 
peasantry a certain amount of work for the then reigning or 
governing family, and nobility, without any pay or reward to 
the labourer, whatsoever. This, and the heavy burden of 
taxes to which they were subjected, and other grievous and 
unjust exactions of their time and substance, together with the 
flattering accounts of the New World, which had even then 
reached Germany, induced him to emigrate. After his ar- 
rival in this country, he took up a tract of land in Bern 
Township, Berks county, on the west side of the river 
Schuylkill. 

It was on the farm which John Iliester then took up, that 
Joseph Hiester was born, and brought up to a farmer's life; 
rising at the dawn, and following the plough, doing all the 
usual and laborious work which appertains to the clearing and 
cultivation of a farm. The writer has frequently heard him 
say that he v/as put to the plough so young, that when it would 
strike a stone or a stump, and slip from the furrow, he had 
not strength to replace it immediately, and was frequently 
knocked down by its catching a root, when turning up newly 
cleared land. He received the rudiments of a plain English 
and German education. In his nineteenth year he married 



268 BIOGRAPHY OF 

Elizabeth Whitman, the daughter of Adam Whitman, an old 
and highly respectable citizen of Reading, which was then a 
mere village. Shortly after, he removed to the town of Read- 
ing and commenced store-keeping, in company with his father- 
in-law. 

Joseph Hiester was an active whig, and took an open and 
manly stand in favour of the rights of America, in all the 
troubles which preceded and were consequent upon the revo- 
lutionary war. It is well known that the constituted authori- 
ties of Pennsylvania were in the outset opposed to the revolu- 
tion, and continued so even after the battle of Lexington : 
indeed, the General Assembly, in 1776, instructed the Penn- 
sylvania Delegation to Congress, to vote against a declaration 
of independence. The people of Pennsylvania, who were 
generally in favour of the revolution, became alarmed at these 
proceedings of the Assembly, and determined to put the go- 
vernment of the state into the hands of the whigs. To effect 
this, a General Provincial Conference was called by the Phi- 
ladelphia City Committee. The State Conference met in Phi- 
ladelphia on the 18th of June, 1776 ; called a convention to 
reorganize the constitution ; ordered that the draft by Con- 
gress of 6000 men from Pennsylvania should be carried into 
effect, (which the Assembly had refused to do,) and instructed 
the Pennsylvania Delegation in Congress to vote for the de- 
claration of independence ; and acted with laudable prompti- 
tude and energy on all matters of a similar character which 
came before them. 

Joseph Hiester, then a captain of militia, and but twenty- 
four years of age, was a member of this conference, and gave 
a hearty concurrence to all these measures. This was a pe- 
riod when many true friends of their country had gloomy 
forebodings as to the issue of the contest with Great Britain 
in which these colonies were then engaged. 

After the dissolution of the convention, Joseph Hiester, then 
an active and influential young man, hastened home to Berks 



JOSEPH HIESTER. 269 

county, and 'galling his fellow citizens together, by beat of 
drum, he harangued them on the alarming state and gloomy 
prospects of their country, and explained the necessity of 
prompt action on the part of all true lovers of America and 
liberty. He stated that Washington was in a perilous situa- 
tion in New Jersey, without sufficient men or means to engage 
the proud and confident legions of the enemy. Having thus 
excited the sympathy, and roused the slumbering patriotism 
of his hearers, he expressed a desire to raise a company of 
volunteers, and march forthwith against the enemy. He then 
laid forty dollars on the drum-head, and said, " I will give 
this sum and the appointment of sergeant to the first man 
who will subscribe the articles of association for a volunteer 
corps, to march at once and join General Washington. I will 
also, said he, pledge myself to furnish the company with blan- 
kets, and the funds necessary for their equipment, and on their 
march." This promise he honourably and faithfully fulfilled. 
Captain Hiester was heard with attention, and his proposition 
was favourably received. After a few moments' consultation 
with those around him, Mathias Babb stepped forward, signed 
the articles, and took the money from the drum-head. This 
example, and the advancement of further small sums of 
money, induced twenty men to sign the articles that evening ; 
and in ten days, Captain Hiester had eighty men enrolled in 
his company. 

The success of Captain Hiester led to the determination to 
raise a battalion, or regiment, in Berks County, under the au- 
thority of the legislature, or executive council of Pennsylva- 
nia, it is not recollected which. It was early ascertained that 
the liberality and well-earned popularity of Captain Hiester 
would secure him the command of the troops about to be 
raised. At this period he was called on by Mr. Haller, who 
was also a citizen of Reading, who expressed a strong desire 
to join the service, but on condition of his obtaining the com- 
mand. He was answered by Captain Hiester as follows: — 
23* 



270 BIOGRAPHY OF 

*'• The office you seek must be the gift of our fellow-soldiers ; 
but I assure you I am not anxious for commanrl, further than 
it may enable me to serve my country. I will willingly yield 
all claim to the command, rather than our country shall not 
have the benefit of your services." This declaration was fol- 
lowed by Captain Hiester declining to be a candidate, and 
using his influence in favour of Mr. Haller, who was elected. 

The facility with which he yielded to Mr. Haller's wishes, 
and a reliance upon the purity of the motives which had in- 
duced him thus to decline rank and precedence, was the cause 
of a new application of a similar character. Mr. Edward 
Burd was desirous to obtain the oiTxoe of major, and also ap- 
plied to Mr. Hiester, whose promotion to that rank was the 
more ardently desired by the men, from the handsome man- 
ner in which he had yielded the colonelcy. Mr. Hiester un- 
hesitatingly consented to Mr. Burd's request, and with the same 
result ; — Mr. Hiester declaring to the men his entire willing- 
ness to continue to serve as captain, or even to serve in the 
ranks, if he could thereby the better serve his country. 
These declarations, often and to different men repeated, had 
the desired effect ; and the officers were elected as he wished. 

The public spirit of Captain Hiester, his disregard of his 
own promotion, his desire to obtain the services of able and 
distinguished men for the country, and the handsome man- 
ner in which this was done, greatly endeared him not only 
to the soldiery, but to the whole body of his fellow-citizens. 

Captain Hiester and the other troops soon marched from 
Reading to New Jersey. On their arrival at Elizabethtown, 
they learned that General Washington was on Long Island 
with the army. On communicating this information to the 
company commanded by Captain Grant, they and some of 
Captain Hiester's men, refused to march further, and said 
they could not be compelled to march beyond the boundaries 
of their own state. This critical condition of afiairs again ex- 
hibited Captain Hiester in a most enviable point of light. He 



JOSEPH HIESTER. 271 

had the men drawn up in a compact body, and addressed 
them in such a strain of honest and indignant eloquence, that 
the hearts of the men soon beat in unison with the patriotic 
pulsations of the speaker. " You have marched thus far," 
said he, " resolved to fight for your families and your homes 
— will you now prove cowards, and desert your country in 
the hour of danger, and when your help is most wanted ? I 
would be ashamed to return home with you ! I will go for- 
ward — yes, if I go alone ! I will go and join General Wash- 
ington as a volunteer — as a private. I will not return with- 
out striking a blow when the enemy is before me. But surely 
you will not turn your backs to the enemy and leave your 
country at their mercy ! I will try you once more," said he ; 
and raising his voice as when giving the word of command, 
be said aloud, " Fall in, fall in ! my friends and neighbours, 
fall in ! those who are ready to fight for freedom and Ame- 
rica, when the drum beats and the word is given, will give 
six cheers. Fall in, and march to join George Washington." 
The men fell in, they shouldered their arms, the drums beat, 
the cheers were given heartily, and at the word of command 
to march, the whole line, three men excepted, fell in and 
moved forward. These three, however, soon sprung into the 
ranks ; three cheers were again given, and they all marched 
forthwith to join the commander-in-chief. 

On Long Island, they were frequently engaged in skir- 
mishes with the enemy. At length a general engagement 
took place on the plains of Jamaica ; many of our troops were 
captured, and amongst them Captain Hiester, and some of his 
men. The cruel treatment shown to the prisoners, is a mat- 
ter of history ; a disgrace to the British name. Captain Hies- 
ter, along with other American officers, was confined on board 
the prison-ship Jersey^ where they suffered terribly from con- 
fined and impure air, and hunger. Many died of fevers, and 
other infectious diseases. From the Jersey prison-ship. Cap- 
tain Hiester was removed to New York to prison, where the 



272 BIOGRAPHY OF 

treatment received was very little better than what they had 
received on board ship, and the scarcity of food was equally- 
great. Here Captain Hiester was attacked with a slow fever, 
during which he was attended by some of his own fellow- 
soldiers, who were also prisoners. He was finally exchanged, 
and returned home until his health was restored. 

He subsequently joined the army, with the rank of Colonel. 
In a skirmish with an advance party of the enemy, previous 
to the battle of Germantown, he was slightly wounded, and 
narrowly escaped being made prisoner. He continued in the 
service to the end of the war ; after which he returned to the 
bosom of his famil}'. The popularity acquired by his public 
spirit and devotion to country during the revolutionary war, 
he never lost. In all the revolutions of party, his neighbours, 
who had the best opportunity of knowing his public spirit and 
his private worth, continued at all times firmly attached to 
him. He was elected Major-General of the militia after the 
war. 

Having thus given some account of the services and suffer- 
ings of General Hiester, during the revolution, we shall notice 
the services he rendered his country in a civil capacity. Soon 
after the war, he was elected to the legislature of his native 
state, Pennsylvania, where he served for many years, with 
honesty and fidelity. He was chosen by Berks county a 
member of the convention which met in Philadelphia, No- 
vember, 1787, to consider and ratify or reject the present 
Federal Constitution. 

He was also a member of the convention which met in 
Philadelphia in 1789, to form a constitution for the state. He 
served in the state legislature under this constitution many- 
years. 

He was elected to Congress, and served without intermis- 
sion from December, 1797, to 1805. He was again elected 
to Congress from December, 1815, till January, 1821, when 



JOSEPH HIESTER. 273 

he resigned his seat, having served in the national councils 
fourteen years. 

In 1820, he was elected Governor of Pennsylvania, having 
previously been an unsuccessful candidate for that office. 
After having served three years, although much urged by 
partisans and friends, he refused to permit his name to be , 
again used as a candidate for the same office, and returned to 
Reading, where, surrounded by friends and neighbours, by 
whom he was affectionately respected and highly esteemed, 
he lived happily, and descended to the grave full of years and 
full of honour. His maxim through life was, " Be sober, 
honest, and industrious," which maxim he often repeated to 
his children and grandchildren. He died June lOth, 1832, 
in the eightieth year of his age, and was buried in the ground 
of the German Reformed Church, of which he was a pious 
and communicant member. 

The attendance of the military, and other demonstrations 
of respect and attachment, all of which were promptly ten- 
dered, were respectfully declined, and his unostentatious 
funeral made up of sorrowing relations, friends, and neigh- 
bours, was in perfect keeping with the truly republican sim- 
plicity which had marked the course of his long and useful 

life. 

Alderman Binns. 



When and in what part of Pennsylvania was Joseph Hiester born ? 

To what occupation was he reared ? 

On the breaking out of the revolution, what part did he take ? 

Relate his measures to raise a company; and his patriotic self-denial in 
respect to military promotions. 

What was his conduct in New Jersev and when taken prisoner on Long 
Island, in what ship was he confined ? 

In what battle was he wounded ? 

What civil stations did he occupy ? 

When was he elected governor? and how long did he continue in office ? 

What was his maxim through life ? 

When did he die ? 



274 BIOGRAPHY OF 



GEORGE WOLP. 

Elevation to office A. D. 1829. — Election of successor A. D. 1835. — 
Tenure 6 years. 

Among the names of those, who will long be associated with 
two of the most important measures ever adopted by any- 
state, and which have largely entered into the economy of the 
government of Pennsylvania, that of George Wolf must 
occupy the first rank in the distinction to be awarded. The 
magnificent, and not more magnificent than stupendous works 
of internal improvement, owe in a great measure their suc- 
cessful continuance and enlargement to his sagacious discern- 
ment and persevering exertions. The merit to be bestowed 
for the part, which he took, by employing the influence of his 
office to the erection of this proud monument of our com- 
monwealth's enterprise, must be enhanced, when it is consi- 
dered that a determined hostility was arrayed against the 
plan, even by many of his personal and political friends 
throughout the state. Elevated, moreover, to his dignified sta- 
tion, at a period of pecuniary embarrassment, it was alone 
through an exhibition of energy on his part, that a disposition 
10 proceed no further in the work, already commenced, was 
triumphantly overcome by him. In his administration a 
large portion of the improvements which now call for the ad- 
miration of all, was completed ; and Clinton in New York, 
and Wolf in Pennsylvania, have alike led behind them im- 
perishable claims for the world's homage ! 

But there is a structure still more sublime, which Governor 
Wolf raised, that in its grandeur and majesty towers far above 
even the monument which our state works constitute. It is 
more sublime ; for it has in it all of moral beauty and intel- 
lectual splendour. It is that system of general education 



GEORGE WOLF. 275 

by means of common schools, of which through the same 
energy of character and determination of purpose, he laid the 
foundation. Well may Pennsylvania indeed be proud of this 
glorious work ; and deeply in the hearts of her children, and 
children's children, should there be cherished a reverence for 
the name of him, who, amidst appaUing difficulties, stood up 
as the unflinching champion of the first rights of the human 
mind. He was the executive of a great and free people ; but 
he knew that to be free, a people need but will it. To pre- 
serve, however, that freedom ; to be conscious of its bless- 
ings, and to enjoy them in all their freshness and in the 
greatest measure, he equally knew, they must be enlightened 
and virtuous. And with this eternal maxim in his breast, 
and impelled by its force, his truly philanthropic heart urged 
him to that measure, with which the best interests of our 
great commonwealth are most indissolubly connected. In 
the long vista of future times, which it is hoped may confi- 
dently be imagined, as bright and glorious for the destiny of 
the state which Penn founded, his name can be seen, en- 
circled with all the trophies and beaming radiance that a 
benefactor of his race has nobly won ! 

George Wolf was born in Northampton county, Pennsyl- 
vania, in August, 1777. His parents were from Germany; 
and gave their son the best education, that the region of 
country in which they resided could afford. In his minority 
he was the principal of an academy in his native county : 
and whilst occupied in its duties, commenced the study of 
the law, under the direction of the Honourable Judge Ross 
of the Supreme Court. Having been admitted ^o the bar at 
the age of twenty-one, he entered upon the practice of his 
profession in Easton, and was soon in the receipt of a 
lucrative patronage. 

The first public situation which he held, was that of clerk 
of the Orphan's Court of Northampton, conferred by Governor 
Snyder. This he subsequently resigned, in order to accept 



276 BIOGRAPHY OF GEORGE WOLF. 

the election of a representative to the state Legislature. After 
having served in this capacity for some successive sessions, 
he declined the further flattering suflrages of his constituents, 
and returned to the practice of his legal profession. 

In the year 1824, he was elected to the Congress of the 
United States, and continued a member of that body until 
1829, when he was called to preside as governor, over his 
native state. Having been twice honoured with the support 
of his fellow-citizens, he became a candidate for the third 
term in 1885. A division having taken place in the ranks 
of the political party to which Governor Wolf belonged, and 
Mr. Muhlenburg being placed in nomination by a portion of 
it, the election resulted in favour of Ritner; though the vote 
given for Governor Wolf was highly respectable and nu- 
merous, far exceeding that of his more immediate opponent. 

In 1836, he was appointed by General Jackson first comp- 
troller of the treasury of the United States ; and in 1838, Mr. 
Van Buren honoured him with the commission of collector of 
the port of Philadelphia. In this office he continued until his 
sudden and much regretted death, which took place March 
11th, 1840, in the sixty-third year of his age. 

What two great measures did Governor Wolf promote ? 
When and where was he born ? 
When yet a minor, what situation did he hold ! 
What profession did he study ? and under whom ? 
What was the first public situation that he held ? 
When was he elected to Congress ? 

When was he honoured with the situation of Governor ? and how long did 
he occupy it ? 

Through what cause did he not succeed as a candidate for the third term ? 
What other offices did he hold? 
When did he die? 



THE END. 



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